In reality, at least for Durant, their relationship had changed much earlier.

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“When you start to figure out what you do and who you are outside of basketball, at an early age, Russell figured that out. I didn’t,” Durant told The Washington Post before Tuesday’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers, two days before Durant and Westbrook face each other as opponents for the first time when the Warriors and Thunder square off here Thursday night. “We’re not going to hang out every day like we did when we were 19, 20 years old. That’s just unrealistic. That’s just life. You don’t hang out with your 19-year-old buddies no more every day, if you’re growing up and doing your own thing. Our personalities, my interests, went another way, and his went another way, and I respected that.”

Ever since Durant made his decision to leave Westbrook and the Thunder, people have placed their relationship under a microscope, searching for meaning in the words and actions of both players.

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There was Durant talking about how fun it is to play with the Warriors, and that he is “used to always being a drill sergeant.” Then there was Westbrook making a pair of Jordan ads, both of which have been seen as digs at his former teammate. The first came this summer, which pictured Westbrook charging down an airport runway. The lone line of copy in the ad: “Some run, some make runways.”

The second ad debuted recently, and featured Westbrook and a number of people — including his brother, Ray — dancing and singing along to a Lil Uzi Vert song featuring a seemingly telling refrain: “Now I do what I want.”

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Many saw both ads as shots targeted at Durant. When asked about them, though, Durant did not.

“I’ve seen them,” he said. “Personally, I don’t think he was coming at me. I don’t think that. But the fans obviously do.

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“It’s a commercial. What are you thinking too far into it for? What are we talking about? That’s what I’m so baffled about. I understand if you’ve got your opinions on me, or what I did. That’s cool. But what are we talking about, at the end of the day? Like, are me and Russell going to go to the middle of the court and fight? You want to see that, right? That’s what the fans want to see. What are we talking about? We play basketball.”

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Much of the scrutiny surrounding the Durant-Westbrook relationship is fueled by a notion that teammates equate to friends. Commonly, teammates are often described as “family” or “brothers,” a group with an unbreakable bond ready to face the world with a united front to best take on all challengers.

Reality, though, is different. The 15 players on any NBA team are no different from the co-workers inhabiting neighboring cubicles in the office or standing next to each other on the assembly line. Some of them are good friends, some of them are acquaintances, and some of them are some level of enemies.

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Players and coaches push and pull at one another on a daily basis; players do the same to each other. Relationships wax and wane, either as players grow older and have different lifestyles or as successes and failures accrue on the court.

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That doesn’t mean there aren’t relationships forged and bonds created. Unprompted Monday during the Warriors’ shoot-around, Durant was observed celebrating the extensions Steven Adams and Victor Oladipo signed with the Thunder before that night’s deadline for rookie contract extensions. Friday night in the locker room, following the Warriors’ road win over the New Orleans Pelicans, Durant was visibly excited watching Westbrook’s highlights from the Thunder’s last-second win over the Suns.

The public’s perception that Durant and Westbrook have devolved into bitter enemies doesn’t seem to hold true given the evidence at hand, nor Durant’s own words.

“You know, there’s always that respect you have for somebody,” Durant said. “I love [Westbrook’s] family. I mean, me and his brother [Ray] hung out more than me and Russell because Russell had a wife. Russell was at home. I was a single man, a bachelor in [Oklahoma City], obviously we’re not going to be together every day . . .

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“Russell had what he wanted to do on the road. He liked to go to the casino. I don’t. You know what I’m saying? I didn’t like to go to the casino. That’s just what he does. And just because we decided to do different things on the road and not hang out as much as we did when we were 19, that’s not a bad thing. That’s not like I lost respect for Russ because we didn’t hang out every day, or I lost touch with Russ because we didn’t hang out every day.”

Durant believes the narrative of tensions between him and Westbrook have been created for the advantage of others.

“That’s just everybody trying to get in between for their benefit, for their game. So, when they watch the game, it’s like, ‘Oh, s—. KD might fight Russ tonight!’ That don’t make sense. Like, what are we even talking about here?”

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The conversation around the game Thursday night will almost certainly be about how Durant and Westbrook interact: how they greet each other before the game; when or if they guard each other; what happens after the final buzzer; what’s said to the media afterward.

Every action will be scrutinized and analyzed by a viewing public eager to discuss what it all means — even if Durant attempts to defuse that discussion by saying there’s nothing to see.

“Fans want you to do what they want you to do,” he said. “And when you don’t, they turn on you. It’s simple.