Kevin Durant shoe release

The Kevin Durant-Russell Westbrook beef is still going strong. On Tuesday, Nike announced Durant’s newest KD 10 shoe design, and it’s the cupcake-inspired KDX Red Velvet.

Here is Nike’s news release on the new shoe, via ESPN:

“With a style of play as smooth as velvet, KD is known for having the most fluid game in the game today,” Nike said in a news release. “Effortlessly making defenders look helpless, always ready to cook his next victim. He dominates the game with unrivaled versatility, forever motivated by the sweet taste of victory. At the end of the day, winning is all that matters and anything else is just icing on the cake. The KDX ‘Red Velvet’ celebrates the smoothest player in the game and his undying quest for the sweet taste of victory.”

Cupcakes seem innocent enough, right? Not when it comes to Durant and Westbrook’s history.

After Durant signed with the Warriors last summer, Westbrook shared a photo of cupcakes on Independence Day, sending a couple of veiled shots at Durant.

HAPPY 4th YALL….??????

A post shared by Russell Westbrook (@russwest44) on

The “cupcake” handle caught on with Thunder fans. One fan even trolled Durant with a customized #35 “cupcake” jersey. Memes started popping up everywhere, and the Thunder crowd chanted “cupcake” at Durant when Golden State visited Oklahoma City in February.

Durant has embraced the nickname before. In April, he posed with a plate of cupcakes at a San Francisco Giants game.

He and Warriors teammates have also worn cupcake shirts and hats. When it comes to the KDX Red Velvets, Durant gets the last laugh as he’s the one collecting paychecks off the whole saga.

[ESPN]

About Jesse Kramer

Jesse is a writer and editor for The Comeback. He has also worked for SI.com and runs The Catch and Shoot, a college basketball website based in Chicago. He is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Follow Jesse on Twitter @Jesse_Kramer.