Durant says he and Westbrook are still ´brothers´

Since the moment he announced he was leaving the Oklahoma City Thunder to join the Golden State Warriors, Kevin Durant heard the rumours.

But despite the apparent tension with Russell Westbrook, Durant still insists that he and his former team-mate are still “brothers” on rival teams.

“I love Russ. I don’t care what nobody say. I don’t care what he say or what the fans say,” Durant told the Mercury News.

“Like, this is a tough time right now in our relationship. But I love Russ. I love his family. They all know that.

“I never did anything morally wrong. I never back-stabbed him in real life, never did anything behind his back, never told anyone anything about his character. Never did any of that.”

For Durant, choosing to join the Warriors was always about business, never personal.

“I just left teams. I just switched teams,” he said. “Everyone on the outside is looking at it as, ‘Oh, you must not have liked him.’ Hell no. C’mon man. Nobody understand that part. I’m trying to find out who I am.”

Durant did admit that he may have not told Westbrook about his departure in the best way.

Westbrook said Durant told him he was leaving via text.

“I understand that,” Durant said. “That’s something me and him will talk about. I’m not saying I’m right. I’m not saying I did it the right way. I’m owning up to that.

“We’re not going to go through this in the media though. I’m not going to say I should’ve did this, should’ve did that.”

At the end of the day, though, Durant sounds confident the two men are still friends off the court.

“We’ll figure our differences out as men one-on-one,” he said. “He’s doing his job right now and he’s doing a helluva job. And I’m doing my job.”