Kevin Durant happy for Russell Westbrook, new Thunder contract

Kevin Durant says he’s happy for ex-teammate Russell Westbrook after the guard signed an extension to stay in Oklahoma City.

Kevin Durant is happy for ex-teammate Russell Westbrook after the guard signed an extension to stay in Oklahoma City, The Vertical’s Michael Lee reports.

Durant, currently in Rio with the U.S. Olympic team, spoke with reporters during USA Basketball’s media availability on Thursday. Westbrook was re-introduced by the Thunder on Thursday afternoon after agreeing to a new three-year contract worth $86 million. Durant, of course, left for the Warriors in the off-season, the team he nearly eliminated from the playoffs while a member of OKC.

“I’m happy to see any player in this league do whatever they want to do,” Durant said. “As long as he wasn’t pressured to do anything and felt like he did everything he wanted to do. And that’s how I feel about every player in this league. It’s good for him, man. It’s good for his family. It’s good for the people in Oklahoma City that love to watch him play and love to have him on their team.

“I got nothing but positive energy and vibes for everybody. I don’t have no beef with anybody or wish no ill will on anybody. So if he did what he wanted to do, that’s better. That’s great for him.”

• Thunder’s extension of Russell Westbrook is a franchise-saving move

Both Durant and Westbrook said Thursday in their respective press conferences that they had not spoken face to face or even at length about Durant’s decision to leave. Durant said he was unsure when that conversation will happen.

“That’s a touchy deal. I don’t know,” Durant said. “It’s easy for someone else to tell me what I should do, but you guys don’t know how that whole thing [went down]. I don’t know, man. I’ll see after this is over and once everything dies down. Like I said before, at some point we’ll sit down and talk. But I don’t know when.”

- Jeremy Woo