Stephen A. Smith of ESPN again spoke about the possibility of Kevin Durant signing with the Los Angeles Lakers.

"Keep in mind this, one of the biggest reasons I'm told, that Kevin Durant may have the Lakers at the top of his list, is because the Lakers have been led to believe, by whom specifically I do not know, but the Lakers have been led to believe that it is a very good chance that the following year Russell Westbrook is coming," said Smith.

Westbrook grew up in Los Angeles and will become a free agent in 2017, one season after Durant.

"Make no doubt about it, Russell Westbrook doesn't have a problem being in L.A."

Kevin Durant was asked about his 2016 free agency on Tuesday and what's important to him in that process.

"I'm just really, to be honest with you, I haven't sat down and thought about it," said Durant. "The season moves along so quickly. Every time I get alone, it's on the plane or in the city thinking about the game the next day. Of course, I can't say I haven't totally thought about it at all. But I haven't sat down and really put a lot of time into what I'm looking for. Just focusing on my teammates, focusing on the season and how I can be better as a player, as a leader. Everything else comes after that."

Durant was asked if his connection with Russell Westbrook would make it tough to think about leaving him.

"Like I said, I haven't really thought about that much. I'm just enjoying every single moment. I told myself that before the year. It's easy for me to kinda stray off path and think about the future. But I just try to preach every day, pray to myself when I walk on the court, when I get out the bed, just stay in the moment, enjoy the moment. Because this stuff goes past quick. It's my ninth season in the league and I can remember my first game in Madison Square Garden like it was yesterday. Just try to stay in the moment and we'll worry about that stuff when I get there. I know that's people want to hear, information, want to get it out and talk about everything right now. But to be honest, I'm just trying to stay in the moment and enjoy where I am. I'll tell you everything you need to know when that time comes."

The final season before Kevin Durant becomes a free agent has been noticeably quiet in terms of the media asking him questions about his future.

Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder have been in the New York area over the past few days, playing back-to-back games against the Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks. 

Durant spoke to the media for about 10 minutes on Monday and was asked questions about the Thunder, Kristaps Porzingis, as well as the Spurs and Warriors.

But there were no questions related to his free agency.

Durant said this past summer than if a sourced story wasn't linked to him, his agent Rich Kleiman or his manager Charlie Bell, then it wasn't accurate.

Stephen A Smith said he'd heard through back channels that Durant was interested in the Lakers, which caused Durant to say Smith was "lying."

Since then, there have been no sourced stories and Durant has gone from city to city without being asked about his free agency.

Andre Roberson will be out at least three weeks with a right knee sprain.

Roberson suffered the injury in Sunday's loss by the Oklahoma City Thunder against the Brooklyn Nets.

Russell Westbrook crashed into Roberson's right leg after flying in for a missed reverse layup.

Roberson limped to the bench and eventually the locker room, not returning. He was seen postgame without crutches, but walking with a heavy limp. 

Kevin Durant spoke about the differences between the Oklahoma City Thunder offense and the ball movement of the San Antonio Spurs.

"Look, we're not the San Antonio Spurs. We're not going to make 30 passes in a possession. We're not that," said Durant. "Of course people want us to be that. That's great basketball, don't get me wrong, but we're not that. We've got guys that can score. we've got two guys on this team that can get a bucket. There's going to be times we gotta ISO. There's going to be times we gotta be aggressive to look for our shot or make a play.

"But basketball is simple, when you got a guy that can get into the paint, that's what San Antonio wants to do, but they've got guys, multiple guys that'll pass, pass, dribble, get to the paint. But we've got guys, Russell, myself, Dion, Cameron Payne, we can get into the paint, kick out or dump down for a layup. That's ultimately what you want, get the defense off balance, drive, kick, make the right play. Simple basketball, but we just don't make five or six passes before we do it sometimes. And that's not a knock against us I don't think. We've got dynamic guys that can play and do different things on the floor, I think that's to your advantage."

Kobe Bryant, Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard are the five starters for the Western Conference in the 2016 NBA All-Star Game.

Leonard beat out Zaza Pachulia and Draymond Green for the final frontcourt spot. Pachulia overtook Green in the voting before the final return.

LeBron James, Paul George, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and Kyle Lowry are the Eastern Conference starters.

Western Conference
Frontcourt
1. Kobe Bryant (LAL) 1,891,614
2. Kevin Durant (OKC) 980,787
3. Kawhi Leonard (SA) 782,339
4. Zaza Pachulia (Dal) 768,112
5. Draymond Green (GS) 726,616
6. Blake Griffin (LAC) 651,860
7. Enes Kanter (OKC) 534,499
8. Tim Duncan (SA) 431,087
9. Anthony Davis (NO) 400,688
10. DeMarcus Cousins (Sac) 364,270
11. DeAndre Jordan (LAC) 269,427
12. LaMarcus Aldridge (SA) 268,003
13. Dwight Howard (Hou) 219,761
14. Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) 173,317
15. Harrison Barnes (GS) 155,289

Guards
1. Stephen Curry (GS) 1,604,325
2. Russell Westbrook (OKC) 772,009
3. Chris Paul (LAC) 624,334
4. Klay Thompson (GS) 555,513
5. James Harden (Hou) 430,777
6. Manu Ginobili (SA) 226,289
7. Rajon Rondo (Sac) 200,518
8. Tony Parker (SA) 195,472
9. Andre Iguodala (GS) 181,142
10. Damian Lillard (Por) 158,360

Eastern Conference
Frontcourt
1. LeBron James (Cle) 1,089,206
2. Paul George (Ind) 711,595
3. Carmelo Anthony (NY) 567,348
4. Pau Gasol (Chi) 566,988
5. Andre Drummond (Det) 515,296
6. Kristaps Porzingis (NY) 473,579
7. Chris Bosh (Mia) 351,420
8. Kevin Love (Cle) 332,685
9. Hassan Whiteside (Mia) 301,362
10. Giannis Antetokounmpo (Mil) 84,617
11. Jonas Valanciunas (Tor) 73,079
12. Joakim Noah (Chi) 48,509
13. DeMarre Carroll (Tor) 46,044
14. Marcin Gortat (Was) 43,496
15. Paul Millsap (Atl) 41,654

Guards
1. Dwyane Wade (Mia) 941,466
2. Kyle Lowry (Tor) 646,441
3. Kyrie Irving (Cle) 580,651
4. Jimmy Butler (Chi) 564,637
5. DeMar DeRozan (Tor) 444,868
6. John Wall (Was) 368,686
7. Derrick Rose (Chi) 302,389
8. Jeremy Lin (Cha) 195,920
9. Isaiah Thomas (Bos) 153,642
10. Reggie Jackson (Det) 76,688

LeBron James has the most earning power of current NBA players with $71 million in combined player contract salary and endorsements.

James earns $23 million from the Cleveland Cavaliers, which is the third highest salary in the NBA. James can opt out of his contract again in 2016 to sign a supermax under the rising salary cap.

James makes $48 million off the court in endorsements. His new Nike deal will be determined by shoe sales going forward, but is expect to go well beyond $500 million. James’ career earnings are approaching $600 million, including endorsements.

Kevin Durant ranks second with earnings of $56.2 million, including $36 million from sponsors.

1. LeBron James: $71 million
2. Kevin Durant: $56.2 million
3. Kobe Bryant: $50 million
4. Derrick Rose: $34.1 million
5. James Harden: $32.8 million
6. Dwyane Wade: $32 million
7. Carmelo Anthony: $30.9 million
8. Chris Paul: $30 million
9. Dwight Howard: $27.4 million
10. Blake Griffin: $26.9 million

John Wall and Kevin Durant have been named the NBA's Players of the Week.

Wall led the Wizards to a 3-1 week behind averages of 25.0 points (fourth in the Eastern Conference), a conference-leading 9.8 assists, 6.0 rebounds and a conference-leading 3.0 steals. Wall posted two point-assist double-doubles and recorded a seven-steal game. He tallied 28 points, eight assists and seven rebounds during a 118-104 win over the Indiana Pacers on Jan. 15.

Durant led the Thunder to a 4-0 week behind averages of 26.0 points (third in the Western Conference), 8.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists. He logged a 30-point game and two point-rebound double-doubles for Oklahoma City, which defeated the Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat and recorded two wins over the Minnesota Timberwolves. On Jan. 13, Durant shot 9-of-14 from the field en route to a game-high 29 points and added 10 rebounds and four assists during a 108-89 win over the Mavericks.

Kevin Durant's opinions of how the media perceives the Oklahoma City Thunder became a topic again this week.

"Man, the [media and experts are] always trying to nitpick us," said Durant on Friday. "I mean, they don't like us. They don't like how Russell [Westbrook] talks to the media. They don't like how I talk to the media. So obviously, yeah, they're not going to give us the benefit of the doubt.

"Especially since we've been together so long," Durant said. "Some of these teams are now, except for the Spurs, who have won. But we haven't won and we've still got the same core, so they don't expect us to win. It is what it is who, who cares about them. They don't mean nothing, the critics. Their opinions, everybody has one, but we don't really care about them. Every day we're just going to keep grinding this thing out. We feel like we can compete with anybody."

On Sunday, Durant attempted to clear the air in unsolicited remarks.

“I also have something else to say, if you guys don’t mind. I was talking to (our media relations Matt Tumbleson) earlier and I’ve seen over the last couple days – couple of years, actually – that I hate the media. I actually do love you guys. If I hated someone I wouldn’t talk to them. I wouldn’t interact with them. I wouldn’t laugh and joke with them. I wouldn’t talk with them about anything other than what you guys ask me. When I disagree, that doesn’t mean that I hate you guys, so … my whole deal is to spark a conversation and hopefully we can talk about the topic, or whatever it is at hand we can talk about, and we all can grow from it. That’s my whole deal.

“I know I’m not necessarily talking to all you guys – all you guys with all these mics here. My whole thing is when I disagree that doesn’t mean I hate you, that just means … what you guys really wanted is someone who’s open and honest with you and who’s opinionated and that’s who I am. I haven’t changed, I’m the same person. I just grew as a man. Hopefully you just appreciate it and know that I don’t hate you. That’s a harsh word and my mom never brought me up to be a hater of anyone. I always believe that if I’m open and honest and opinionated that I can grow as a person and hopefully you can learn that’s what I’m about, and hopefully you all can get better. The main goal is to help the fans know the game a little bit more than they know today, so that’s my goal and hopefully that’s your goal instead of getting headlines and clicks. That’s my take on it, that’s the last time I’ll talk about it, but I had something I had to get off my chest. I appreciate it.”

The Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs, Cleveland Cavaliers and Oklahoma City Thunder have been the consensus top-4 teams in the NBA this season, but we have seen very few games featuring these teams playing one another despite approaching the midway point in the season.

Those teams have played just three of their scheduled 17 games against each other.

The Cavaliers have played the Warriors and Thunder, while the Thunder have also played the Spurs. We have yet to see games between the Warriors/Spurs, Warriors/Thunder and Cavs/Spurs.

The Spurs have nine games remaining against the Warriors (4), Thunder (3) and Cavs (2).

The Warriors have eight games remaining against the Spurs (4), Thunder (3) and Cavs (1).

The Thunder have seven games remaining against the Spurs (3), Warriors (3) and Cavs (1).

Being in the Eastern Conference, the Cavs have four games remaining against the Spurs (2), Warriors (1) and Thunder (1).

The Spurs have the second most difficult remaining schedule with their remaining opponent winning percentage being .526.

As the Warriors and Spurs in particular chase historical seasons with their win-loss record and efficiency/point differential, the difficulty of these games in particular will become a clear factor.