Russell Westbrook said that his friendship with James Harden will be on hold during their first round playoff match up.
Westbrook led his Oklahoma City Thunder to a playoff berth after the departure of their best player, Kevin Durant, to the Golden State Warriors. Before Durant left the team, however, both he and Westbrook played several years with James Harden. The trio reached the NBA Finals and lost to a LeBron James led Miami Heat squad.
Westbrook and Harden are the top two National Basketball League Most Valuable Player candidates for the 2017 season. They will now meet each other in a best of seven series that begins Sunday night. According to James Harden, the two have been friends since they were ten years old and that will never change.
“Since 10 years old. That’s never gonna change,” said Harden. “I don’t want to talk about that,” Harden said of the MVP race. “I’m focused on the playoffs. We got a game here tonight. That’s the most important thing.”
According to Westbrook, however, their friendship will be put on hold once he steps on the court.
“When I get on the floor, I got one friend, and that’s the basketball,” said Westbrook. “I’ve been like that since I was a little kid. My dad told me that when I was younger, ‘You got one friend and your friend is Spalding. At the time maybe it was Wilson or some other s—. Whatever the ball is, that’s who my friend is.”