OKC's Big Three of Durant, Westbrook, Harden: The Reasons Behind the Split

It has been eight years since the last time the Oklahoma City Thunder were able to compete for a National Basketball Association (NBA) title as they reached the NBA Finals in 2012 only to lose in five games to the LeBron James-led Miami Heat. What made that OKC team so competitive was the fact that it had one of the most talented Big Three to ever play together even if it didn't produce a championship: Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Russell Westbrook. However, it wasn't meant to be as the trio never got the chance to return to the championship round together as James Harden was traded to the Houston Rockets prior to the 2012-2013 season. Then, Kevin Durant left in 2016 after blowing a 3-1 series lead against the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals while Westbrook was reunited with Harden in Houston after the Houston Rockets and the OKC Thunder completed a blockbuster trade that involved sending Chris Paul to the Thunder.

In last night's episode of "Bull By the Horn" by Benny Benitez where Benitez was joined by Jinno Rufino and Jude Turcuato, one of the many side stories that were discussed was this: What if Durant, Westbrook, Harden along with Serge Ibaka didn't go separate ways and actually stayed together in Oklahoma? Would the quartet have won a championship or two and stop the Dominance of the Warriors? Perhaps. The sad thing is: we will never know. 

This begs the question: what led to the unfortunate break-up of one of the talented trio in the NBA?

James Harden's departure at the end of the 2011-2012 campaign was both controversial and understandable. It's controversial in the sense that according to Harden himself, money was among the deciding factors why he was shipped off to Houston. Initially, the Thunder offered a 55 million-Dollar contract extension to Harden who, at that time, was already good enough to become a starter. But for Harden, that amount which would have made him the highest-paid sixth man in NBA history had he accepted it, wasn't enough. He also mentioned the fact that him coming off the bench behind the shadows of both Westbrook and Durant was already big sacrifice and that, In that essence, Harden getting traded to Houston was understandable especially for Harden's case as the Rockets went on to offer Harden a five-year contract that was worth 80 million Dollars and more importantly, his numbers increased drastically as he went on to win the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award in 2018 on top of leading the league in scoring that same season. 

Now, Durant's departure after the 2015-2016 season was something that made NBA fans furious as many thought that Durant took an easier path towards winning a championship by joining a team who was just coming off a stunning Finals loss after going 3-1. But for Kevin Durant who went on to win two championships plus two Finals MVP trophies, the fact that "he was tired of being the only who could make threes" in OKC was one of the deciding factors why he chose to join the Warriors. From his standpoint, that decision was an understandable one as he also noted that he needed to find a team that can maximize his talents. That's something that the Warriors were able to do before Durant left again. This time for the Brooklyn Nets at the end of last season.   

Russell Westbrook's being traded to Houston was the result of the 2016-2017 MVP's making a trade request at the end of the 2018-2019 season. While it shocked a big chunk of NBA fans, pundits believe that the motor of the trade was already working from the moment the Thunder lost to the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2019 playoffs and it was coupled by Paul George getting traded to the Los Angeles Clippers.

At the end of the day, it's a business decision whether it's made by the players or the teams. While that OKC Big Three will remain as one of the biggest "what ifs" in the history of the league, the trio breaking-up gradually benefited their respective careers as all three won the MVP award after the break-up with Durant winning the award for OKC in 2014. It's like when you're in a relationship and if something is no longer salvageable, why stay in it? While it clearly hurt OKC fans, the decision of the players and team management to split the trio is about the growth of both the players as well as the teams.  

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