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Thunder players brushed their teeth, watched cartoons in lieu of seeing Kevin Durant's Warriors debut

Kevin Durant collected 27 points and 10 rebounds in his Warriors debut. (Getty Images)
Kevin Durant collected 27 points and 10 rebounds in his Warriors debut. (Getty Images)

If you missed Kevin Durant’s Golden State Warriors debut on the opening night of the 2016-17 NBA season, when the former Oklahoma City Thunder forward played well in his new team’s embarrassing defeat, maybe you were watching Game 1 of the World Series or living under a rock somewhere.

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Or you were one of his ex-teammates, who seemingly did anything to avoid watching Durant’s debut.

Asked by the Thunder media contingent if he watched basketball, checked the scores or instead tuned into the baseball game, Oklahoma City point guard Russell Westbrook repeatedly said, “No,” before offering, “I was busy doing something y’all probably don’t want to hear about,” and then listing 11 things he did on Tuesday night, none of which included watching his teammate of eight years.

“I play cards, man, so I was just chilling, minding my business, eating a nice dinner, talking to my wife on the phone, and went to sleep, if y’all wanna know,” Westbrook told reporters on Wednesday. “I took a shower. I used Dove soap, brushed my teeth, washed my face, went to sleep — I put a movie on before I went to sleep — and that’s what I did.”

Asked if he had heard the “scuttlebutt” surrounding the Warriors’ 29-point loss, Westbrook responded, “Who?” He then offered a response that had nothing to do with Golden State at all. “I’m definitely looking forward to tonight, man,” he added. “We have a great team with the Thunder. We have a group of young guys who are willing to play hard, and I’m looking forward to tonight.”

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Given the somewhat acrimonious split between Durant and Westbrook and the number of questions the Thunder have been subjected to about their ex-teammate’s decision to leave in free agency this past summer, who could blame anybody in Oklahoma City for skipping TNT on the cable guide?

For example, Thunder center Steven Adams provided a 12th alternative to watching his ex-teammate.

“I was watching cartoons, mate. Some Japanese anime,” said Adams. “I don’t know if you watch that. That’s my stuff. ‘One Piece.’ It’s about pirates and that. Don’t worry. ‘One-Punch Man’ as well. Another classic.”

“One-Punch Man” is about a superhero so powerful the thrill of victory becomes a bore, which might seem like an allegory for the Warriors this season to anybody who didn’t watch them lose their debut.

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Ben Rohrbach is a contributor for Ball Don’t Lie and Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!