News for Kevin Durant - 2010 Ezra Stiles NBA League

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Thu Jul 14 201612:39Durant feels disconnect with Westbrook
Kevin Durant said he never felt more comfortable than when he met four Warriors' players and coach Steve Kerr during a meeting in the Hamptons earlier this month.Suffice to say the new Golden State forward doesn't get the same warm and fuzzy vibes when he speaks to now former Oklahoma State Thunder teammates, including All-Star Russell Westbrook."I just told him. I let him know how I felt," Durant said in an interview with Sina Sports in China. "Obviously, our relationship won't ever be the same again. But it's something I wanted to do, and I expressed that to him. Hopefully he respected it."Two-time MVP Steph Curry, part of the player brigade that visited Durant on July 1 in New York, said he disagreed with commissioner Adam Silver that the super team arrangement isn't good for the league. "We just keep it tight in our locker room. There's going to be a lot of noise and distractions," Curry said. The closeness Durant witnessed between Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala and Draymond Green was the biggest draw to a team that won 73 regular-season games and bounced the Thunder from the Western Conference Finals."I could tell they enjoyed being around each other, great vibe," Durant said at his introductory press conference. Durant said he felt a sea change when he opted to sign a two-year deal with the Warriors. But he knew that was coming."I can't worry about people on the outside. I've got to go to sleep at night, I've got to get up and I've got to perform. I've got to do all that stuff. It is what it is," Durant said. "Once we start playing the games, I'll feel a little bit more better. Right now, it's definitely a change. There's a different vibe going around, but I'll get used to it."The narrative of a disconnect between Westbrook and Durant, the only teammates to finish in the top five of MVP voting last season, gained some steam when Durant framed a fragmented relationship after announcing he was moving on from Oklahoma City. Both players were shoot-first, offensive-minded stars. The Warriors are built for offense, too, and Curry and Thompson are high-volume scorers who need the ball in their hands. That doesn't worry Durant, who Kerr called underrated as a complete player."We don't have any selfish players on the team," Durant said. "That's the thing: I think everybody expects us to play selfish, but guys want to go out there and win and just play the right way. That's what they've been doing. It's on me to come in there and adapt to what they've been doing. It's going to take me some time, but I'm going to get used to it pretty quick."