The up-and-down relationship between Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant will be an essential part of their basketball stories for years to come, but as Westbrook moves into the next phase of his life, Durant made clear Thursday whatever tension might have existed between the two is firmly in the past.A day after Westbrook announced his retirement from the NBA after 18 seasons, Durant shared a heartfelt 276-word message on his X account recounting their time together with the Oklahoma City Thunder and praising his “quiet and methodical” former teammate’s “iconic career.”Durant began the post by sharing a brief story illustrating Westbrook’s legendary work ethic during their OKC days, then followed that up with his perspective on Westbrook’s highly emotional playstyle and how he viewed it differently from others.“A lot of people looked at the emotions on the court and thought Russ was loud. Nah to me, he was quiet and methodical. He (led) by example and once the lights were bright, he let everything out and experienced pure freedom,” Durant wrote in his post. “It was inspiring as his teammate and everywhere I went, I seen it inspire people from all walks of life. Crazy thing is, he didn’t say much, he just showed up. For 18 years.”