The “beef” between Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant hasn’t been in the news lately, and the reigning NBA champ shed some new light on the situation.

Kevin Durant infamously left the Oklahoma City Thunder for the Golden State Warriors last summer. Since then, the narrative is that he and Russell Westbrook have perpetual beef. Westbrook dodged questions about Durant all last season, and Durant has also tried his best to prevent us from overblowing the situation.

“I don’t think we ever stopped being friends,” said the Finals MVP on the Bill Simmons Podcast. “We just stopped talking — but I don’t think we stopped being friends.”

The two spent eight seasons as teammates on the Thunder. Durant’s departure was beyond sudden, and joining the Warriors makes it sting more. In 2016, Golden State overcame a 3-1 deficit against Oklahoma City to advance to the Finals, and a lot of people considered the move weak because Durant joined the very team that ousted him from the playoffs.

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Professor Oak once said that “there’s a time and a place for everything,” and I won’t give an opinion on KD’s choice. It’s over. We have to move on. I’m sure both Westbrook and Durant are over it.

They’re both grown. And 6-10(ish) megastar doesn’t feel that there are problems between the two.

“[We’re] not talking, nah, but I mean, I don’t think any … there’s no problems. But I don’t think we ever stopped being friends.”

It’s true that you can stop talking to someone for a bit and still consider them friends — especially when life gets in the way. I doubt they’d want to speak during the season since they’re both hyper-competitive, and they also have other things on their agendas.

In time, I believe we’ll see Westbrook and Durant formally “make up” and lay this narrative to bed. Until then, we need to sit back, relax and enjoy the show.

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