OAKLAND, Calif. – With Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, the depths of their rift has to be determined by what isn’t said. The once-incredible partnership isn’t on speaking terms, Westbrook declared after the Golden State Warriors and Oklahoma City Thunder staged their latest feisty but mostly non-competitive game Wednesday at Oracle Arena. They had a brief exchange of words in the third quarter of the Warriors’ 121-100 romp, but Westbrook turned his back on Durant and abruptly ended the conversation with his silence. So, keep on waiting for these two to hash it out, shout it out or hug it out, because that moment won’t come anytime soon, if at all.

For now, fans, media and social-media dwellers have to exaggerate or create fictitious situations to build up some hype that neither Durant nor Westbrook is interested in generating. That’s how Westbrook shouting, “Thanks, Jamie!” nearly 15 minutes before the Warriors lost to Cleveland on Christmas day led to speculation that he actually bellowed, “Thanks, Kyrie!” That’s how quick some were to assume that Durant was the intended target when Westbrook was caught on camera after Wednesday’s game using a derogatory term to prohibit Enes Kanter from speaking to someone.

“We live for controversy in this world right now. That’s important for some,” Durant told The Vertical after scoring a season-high 40 points on just 16 shots against his former team.

No, Durant and Westbrook aren’t on the best of terms, but they have not granted others admission into their internal drama. They are settling into life without each other, expanding their games and finding comfort in what they are becoming. Durant is a more efficient scorer who no longer has to worry about removing bad shots from his diet because he gets so many good looks in Golden State’s free-flowing offense. Westbrook is one of the two frontrunners for the league’s MVP award, blitzing the stat sheet by turning the sublime into the routine, all while averaging an unconscionable triple-double.

“The outside is taking it more serious than probably we are,” Durant told The Vertical. “I’m out there doing my thing. I don’t have time to focus on things that really don’t matter to me.”

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook will meet again on Feb. 11 in Oklahoma City. (AP) More

For eight years, Durant and Westbrook shared the same objectives: to establish themselves as NBA superstars, lift the Thunder into contenders and eventually win a title. They got two of the three, with Durant leaving to chase a championship with a difficult decision that means he now has to win or get slandered. Westbrook is under no pressure and his legend only grows stronger as a solo act. Watching them on opposing sides might still appear to be weird, but not to them.

“Not anymore,” Durant told The Vertical. “First game was. But now, it’s just competing. Going out there and playing as hard as I can and trying to help my team win. It’s simple.”

Debating if they are better off apart is unfair until Westbrook has a team that is competitive enough to actually challenge Durant and the Warriors. But the Thunder are a considerable team or a few huge trades from getting there. Until then, Westbrook remains the league’s most dynamic one-man show. His talents are garnering more appreciation than they ever would had Durant stayed. And that’s one of the many awkward and disappointing aspects of this divorce.

Since Durant was among the first to ascend to stardom, Westbrook was cast into a sidekick role in which he was never comfortable. He resisted any boxes being formed around him and rebelled against any attempts to limit his talents. That stretch when Durant was injured two seasons ago suggested more was there, and the first half of this season has only confirmed what Westbrook always believed about his greatness and leadership abilities.

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