Trae Young’s dad says K.D. and Russ both deserve to be honored by Thunder: ‘The KD hate has to stop’

Star veterans Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are both still kicking in the NBA well into their 30s, but it’s been a long time since they starred alongside one another on the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Westbrook and Durant were last teammates on the Thunder in the 2015-16 campaign. After they blew a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference Finals to the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA Playoffs, Durant left his longtime running mate that summer and signed with the team that had just eliminated the Thunder.

Durant’s decision to spurn OKC for the Warriors has long not sat right with some fans of the Thunder, but Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young’s father Ray argued on X that Durant and Westbrook both deserve to be honored by the organization for their contributions to the franchise.

He made the claim during a conversation about whether Durant and Westbrook should have statues and/or their jerseys retired by the organization.

Westbrook and Durant were a dominant duo on the Thunder for eight seasons in total, and their first season together was in the 2008-09 campaign after the Thunder drafted Westbrook with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft.

Probably the crowning achievement during their time as teammates from a collective standpoint came when they helped Oklahoma City reach the 2012 NBA Finals, even though the team fell to star LeBron James and the Miami Heat in five games.

But individually, Durant’s most notable personal accomplishment with the Thunder came when he captured the MVP award in the 2013-14 season. He won the scoring title that season before taking home MVP honors.

As for Westbrook, he probably saved his best basketball as a member of the Thunder for after Durant departed the team for Golden State. Westbrook became a league MVP himself following Durant’s departure.

Westbrook also averaged triple-doubles in every one of his final three seasons with the team, and he’s just one of three players in league history along with fellow greats Oscar Robertson and Nikola Jokic to average a triple-double for an entire season.

While Durant and Westbrook’s time as partners on the Thunder didn’t end in a championship or multiple championships like maybe some fans thought it would, they will always be remembered as two of the top players in OKC history.