National Basketball Association

Kendrick Perkins: Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook didn't appreciate each other

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, one of the league’s most formidable duos, split up this offseason after Durant left the Thunder for the Warriors in free agency. During their eight seasons together, they made the conference finals four times, and lost in the 2012 NBA Finals.

Despite all the success, though, one of their former teammates says they never fully appreciated one another.

“I think to me, what happened was with Russ and KD, I think they never really valued each other like that should have,” Kendrick Perkins said on The Vertical podcast with Adrian Wojnarowski. “And not saying that they didn’t value as, like, didn’t like each other. What I’m talking about is, I don’t think they ever realized and said, hey – I don’t think Russ ever realized and said, ‘Hey, man, I got Kevin Durant on my side. We could take over this league.’ And I never thought KD did vice versa. He never said, ‘Hey, I got Russell Westbrook on my side.’ You got two of the top five players in the NBA on the same team.

“And trust me—I’m telling you this right now—when they think about this 10 years later, they’re gonna regret that.”

Perkins, 31, last played in the NBA with the Pelicans last season and signed with a team in Serbia earlier in the week. Westbrook signed an $85 million extension to stay in Oklahoma City earlier this summer.

– Kenny Ducey

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