On the difference between how Reggie Jackson handled his time on the bench and James Harden...

Brooks: "Absolutely. You have to have guys who have to want to be with the program, no matter how good of an organization you are or how good of a coaching staff you have and teammates you have. The guys have to want to be there. Reggie was a great player and, for whatever reason, Sam couldn't get that done. But Reggie wanted to be a starting point guard. He was never going to start as a point guard. Russell Westbrook is the most complete basketball player in the NBA, hands down. You're not going to be able to take his spot. I told Reggie that many times. But he was going to have an impact with his play. He's a great player, can finish around the rim as good as anyone. Give him a lot of credit, he's really developed into a solid 3-point shooter and his game management has improved from the times he had with our group being developed. Part of being a developing program, it's not just the minutes. A lotta people kinda mess this up, I think. They look at the minutes. Oh, he's playing 25 minutes, 35 minutes, he must really be developing because he's playing 10 more minutes. Developing a player, I looked at it, you developed a player to be a professional basketball player. That includes being on time, that included getting your work done early, before practice, going hard in practice, film room, shootarounds, training rooms, massages, stretching, ice, weights. There's so many components that it takes to develop a team, develop a player. I thought our staff did a great job of doing that. Kevin Durant, MVP as a 24-year-old. I think Kevin right now, and I thought he was last year before he got hurt, he was going to be the best two-way player in the game. I think this year he is the best two-way player in the game. Kinda like a forgotten MVP candidate. The thing with Russell and Kevin, they have two of them on the same team."

On his gut feeling on what Kevin Durant will do after this season...

Brooks: "That's an impossible question. I do have a great relationship. I still communicate with him through text. It's the craziest thing. You talk to these players and it's always through a text. I don't even know if Kevin would know what a phone call ring would sound like. I can text and he'd text me right away. We've had some great communications the last month or so. The things I love about Kevin, and with Russell and Kevin, there's only like a handful -- under 10, maybe five or six in the entire league -- that every team, all 30 teams would want those players. Kevin and Russell, all 30 teams would take that player in a second. Kevin is special. He's a special person, a gifted player, very sincere, genuine. When he says that I want to get better every day, that's not just player talk. That's really what he does. I was able to see that every day. We would practice at 11. Kevin and Russell would be there at 9:15, getting shots up on the court before practice even began. Kevin's looking for trust. He wants a staff he knows he can trust and I thought my staff did a great job with that. He knew that we had his back and that wasn't just if he hit a big shot. If he missed a big shot, it was, alright, we're going to get this thing together the next game. You know what, he's gonna have a great opportunity and I just want what's best for Kevin and what's best for Kevin is the right thing."