A little distance and some time apart has seemed to heal all wounds between Kevin Durant and James Harden. The two NBA superstars were seen popping bottles backstage at rapper Travis Scott’s London concert this past weekend. Are the two ballers back to being BFFs?
Harden befriended Scott during his tenure with the Houston Rockets. The two were often seen at the other’s respective work venues lending support. They also would party together in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and attend shows during Paris Fashion Week.
Following the London show at the O2 Arena, Durant and Harden are seen backstage showering their friend with champagne, with Harden saying “best in the world.”
Harden forced his way out of Brooklyn and off the Nets, leaving Durant and Kyrie Irving without their third running mate. Reports stated that Harden was upset with Irving’s unwillingness to get vaccinated and commit to the team.
At the time this caused hard feelings from Durant toward Harden. The two were teammates and friends early in their careers on the Oklahoma City Thunder.
It was so bad that Durant, who was the leading Eastern Conference All-Star vote-getter and captain, refused to pick Harden in the All-star format. LeBron James, the Western Conference captain, couldn’t hide his amusement at the situation.
All that appears to be water under the bridge now. Harden signed an extension with the Philadelphia 76ers and has tied his championship fate to president of basketball operations Daryl Morey and his MVP teammate Joel Embiid.
Durant, meanwhile, requested a trade at the beginning of free agency this offseason. But no team has been willing to meet the Nets’ steep asking price for the 12-time All-Star, 10-time All-NBA player and two-time Finals MVP.
The haul that the Utah Jazz received from the Minnesota Timberwolves for Rudy Gobert, makes the asking price for Durant too rich for any team to even consider. In all likelihood Durant, who met with owner Joe Tsai recently, will be back in Brooklyn with Irving this season. Durant is at the beginning of a four-year, $194 million extension.
Scott was headlining his first solo concert since the Astroworld tragedy last year where 10 people wound up dead as a result of compressive asphyxiation due to the massive crowd rushing the stage. There was also a lethal combo of drugs and alcohol involved in at least one of the deaths. Some 4,900 additional people were injured at the festival.
Concert promoter Live Nation and Scott are named as defendants in one giant pending lawsuit.
The issues from Astroworld seemed to be a distant memory for Scott, at least during this show and its aftermath. Joining Durant and Harden at the concert was Scott’s girlfriend Kylie Jenner and their daughter Stormi.
Scott will finish out his tour stops in London before heading to Las Vegas in September for a nightclub residency titled “Road to Utopia.” According to organizers, he is set to headline seven shows at Zouk Nightclub at Resorts World starting Sept. 17.
The “Sicko Mode” rapper will then be in South America in November as one of the headliners for the Primavera Sound festival, along with the Arctic Monkeys, Bjork and Lorde.
