Kevin Durant reveals how he found out Russell Westbrook retired from NBA

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After a legendary 18 seasons, Russell Westbrook announced his NBA retirement. The future Hall-of-Famer leaves the game as one of the era-defining NBA superstars of the 2010s. It doesn't take long to remember his name when you look back at the decade's worth of hoops and storylines.

Westbrook enjoyed his best years — both individually and at the team level — on the Oklahoma City Thunder . He spent his first 11 seasons there. In that time, he became a one-time MVP winner, redefined the triple-double and was a perennial All-Star and All-NBA member.

In those 11 years, the first eight were spent with Kevin Durant. The two-headed NBA superstar duo headlined OKC's first title contender. Even though they failed to win an NBA championship, several deep postseason runs will have them forever linked in their respective basketball journeys.

Still playing at an All-NBA level, Durant dove deeper into his thoughts on Westbrook's retirement on his 'Boardroom Talks' podcast. Even if things ended on a sour note, their eight years together had too many special memories to just erase from your mind. They're one of the more dynamic duos in league history and rival John Stockton and Karl Malone as the best two-man game to never win a ring together.

"I was on a plane coming back from somewhere, and I had fell asleep, and I didn’t have WiFi on the plane, and then it just kicked in, and then I got a bunch of texts," Durant said. "Somebody was like, ‘Yo, you want to talk about Russell’s retirement?’ And I’m like, ‘What the f--k?’ I look at Shams — you know you always go to Shams’ tweets — and it was shocking, man."

When Westbrook called it quits, the entire sports world reacted. The NBA superstar is one of those global names whose rockstar-esque playstyle garnered strong emotions — one way or the other. As the love kept pouring from NBA legends and fans, everybody waited for Durant's thoughts. He lived up to the anticipation with a lengthy, heartfelt tribute post that chronicled an anecdote with then-OKC assistant Maurice Cheeks that personified Westbrook's fiery competitive spirit.

Even though Durant and Westbrook haven't talked in a minute, the love and respect remain mutual. Even if their 2016 divorce played out like a daytime court drama in the aftermath. What they did in OKC will always be immortalized. They put the small-market franchise on the NBA map from the jump. Since then, the Thunder have had resounding success over nearly two decades.

"I thought he could still play. I feel like he'd be a good veteran presence in a locker room that somebody would want him around," Durant said. "But I heard he had a couple of offers that he just turned down. He just wanted to step away."

KD says Russ retiring hit him hard 😢 (Via @boardroom / h/t @NBA__Courtside ) pic.twitter.com/DjAyc2onRq

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) August 27, 2026 This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Kevin Durant reveals how he found out Russell Westbrook retired from NBA

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