For over a decade, the one person with whom Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant has been closely associated is renowned Canadian rapper Drake. While the origins of their friendship are not entirely known, the NBA world has caught glimpses of their mutual admiration throughout the years. From the rapper giving the player a shoutout through his tracks to Durant reciprocating the praise by stating, “When your favorite rapper puts your name in a song, it makes you feel like you’ve made it” their longstanding friendship is evident.

Earlier today, Kevin Durant took to his official Instagram account to highlight a story for his 13.4 million followers. Without any prior context, the Suns power forward dropped a recent picture of Drake alongside 49-year-old music industry legend 50 Cent. By putting just two goat emojis at the bottom of the picture, Durant didn’t have to use any further words to describe his affection for the duo to his followers.

Kevin Durant’s vote of confidence towards Drake goes a long way, especially during a time when his loyalty towards the rapper was somewhat questioned. It all started earlier this year, as Drake’s long-running feud with fellow rapper Kendrick Lamar escalated. The latter released a series of diss tracks against the Canadian, including ‘Not Like Us’ which reached #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 Charts. With Durant’s decade-long friendship with Drake being a matter of public knowledge, it certainly may have come as a surprise to many when he attended Lamar’s ‘Pop Out’ concert in mid-June. Furthermore, he wasn’t the only professional basketball player there, as LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, and DeMar DeRozan also joined his company.

Fortunately, if attending the concert may have caused some doubts to be raised, Durant has done his best to dismiss them since then. Days after the concert, to celebrate Canada Day, the 35-year-old flew 2,213 miles from Phoenix to Toronto to spend some time with Drake at his iconic residence named ‘The Embassy’. Not just Durant, but his elder brother also sided with Drake after commenting, “Exactly, this song is trash LMAO,” in reference to ‘Not Like Us’. Even now, despite preparing for the upcoming Paris Olympics, Kevin Durant is reaffirming his loyalty to his longtime friend.

Snubbing LeBron James, Drake sends out his love to Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry

As Team USA looks to secure their fifth consecutive gold medal in the upcoming Olympics, the roster is receiving support from all sides of the celebrity world. Along with supporting his national team, Drake is also sending out his love for the US basketball roster through a series of social media posts. Unfortunately, this created doubts that the rapper may not be on best terms with his other long-time friend LeBron James.

Via Instagram story, Drake uploaded three separate pictures of Stephen Curry, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Kevin Durant all in their respective national team jerseys. However, he did not choose to add one of LeBron, despite the player being a dominating presence in the star-filled US roster. While Drake himself has not confirmed the same, the reason for snubbing LeBron may be easily guessed from looking at the recent past.

While Kevin Durant has not shown any affection for Kendrick Lamar’s diss tracks, LeBron James is known to be a big fan of ‘Not Like Us.’ From openly grooving to the track at Lamar’s ‘Pop Out’ concert to exclaiming, “I love it” after it was played in the aftermath of the matchup against Serbia, no one could say otherwise. Unfortunately, the same may have not played well with Drake. The same clip which had LeBron exclaiming “I love it” also had Stephen Curry complaining about the track by stating, “Damn with this song. It’s not the only song in America!” This is what may have earned him the spot on Drake’s Instagram story. Furthermore, the rapper would have been remiss if he hadn’t sent his support to Kevin Durant.

What are your thoughts on the friendship between the Suns star and the Canadian rapper? Let us know in the comments down below.