Perkins: I was the leader of the Thunder back then. Durant and Westbrook actually had a very normal relationship.

6686 Sports October 26th Former NBA player Perkins recently participated in "Out The Mud Podcast" and talked about his experience while playing for the Thunder.

Perkins said: "What helped me the most in my career was my experience after I went to the Thunder. Because I was about 27 years old at that time, I began to truly assume the role of team leader. Durant may say that it is not like that, but he knows very well in his heart who is leading the lounge and twisting the team together."

"I Coming from that team culture - we go together everywhere, we do all the activities together, we even take the bus all the way from New York to Vancouver, that's the kind of atmosphere we grew up with."

"But when I got to the Thunder, the situation I saw was completely different: Harden was 20 years old, Westbrook was 19 years old, and Durant was 21. Ibaka said he was 18 years old. They can indeed win, but there is no connection at all, no chemistry, and no mutual trust and dependence. Especially the relationship between Westbrook and Durant is really average."

"But if they want to win the championship, they must separate themselves from each other. Pull them into a small circle and let them become real teammates. So I started to do it little by little: during the football season, I am a Dallas Cowboys fan, and Durant is a Washington team fan, so I put the three of us into a group, starting from talking about the game, and then we started talking. We went to the game on a private plane, and then gradually expanded our circle - watching football, playing cards, and gathering together in the apartment."

"Then we went to the away team's stadium. I booked a private room at the steakhouse in advance and went there as soon as we landed. We started living together instead of being teammates when we arrived at the game. You don’t need to bring your brothers from the previous neighborhood to the away team, we are your brothers now. If you want to compete for the championship, you must truly understand your teammates off the court, so that you will be willing to go the extra mile for them on the court. In this way, you can speak directly during the game without hurting your feelings.”