Phoenix Suns superstar Kevin Durant is largely known for three things:
- “The Slim Reaper” is a genuine, bona fide scoring force of nature on the basketball court.
- Durant infamously ditched the Oklahoma City Thunder for the Golden State Warriors in 2016 — the very same team that eliminated his Thunder from the playoffs the year prior.
- Durant hilariously was caught red-handed, as chronicled by Bleacher Report, with a burner account on then-Twitter (now X), that often defended Durant. Many blasted Durant for having thin skin after that incident.
While bullet point No. 2 is old news, points No. 1 and No. 3 were actually dredged up anew after Team USA eked out a four-point win over Serbia’s national basketball team on Thursday. Team USA was down by as many as 17 in the game.
While Serbia does feature Denver Nuggets do-it-all big man Nikola Jokic — arguably the best player in the world right now — USA was still a prohibitive betting favorite.
That didn’t matter to the Serbs, who fought Team USA tooth and nail in a close game.
USA ultimately prevailed 95-91, largely thanks to the heroics of Stephen Curry (36 points, nine made three’s), Joel Embiid (19 points) … and yes, Kevin Durant.
The Suns scorer only notched nine points, but hit a huge jumper to push the lead to four (two possessions) with less than a minute left in the game.
One would think that Durant would be living off the high of that amazing comeback win on Friday morning.
One would think wrong, because the high-powered Suns scorer decided to choose violence.
Are you rooting for USA basketball to win the gold medal?
Yes: 34% (13 Votes)
No: 66% (25 Votes)
Durant started this X tantrum on Thursday night (Friday morning in Paris), by calling out a prominent Nuggets fan who noted that Jokic took a loaded Team USA to the brink.
Where u from??
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) August 9, 2024
“Serbia just took the most talented team in the history of the planet to the wire with a medal on the line,” the Nuggets fan posted. “Team USA was a 16 point favorite.
“The whole country should be proud.”
Durant responded to that rather innocuous comment by asking him, “Where u from??”
That response led to a deluge of X posts from Durant, all of which got more and more aggressive with fans.
Durant’s next post was in response to a fan who was critical of Durant’s original comment: “To all you nuggets fans, nobody gives a f*** who yall lames believe is the best player in the league, players got major respect for Jok, we don’t worship him like yall do but most are in awe of his brilliance.” (WARNING: Following the link will lead to a post that contains vulgar language that may offend some readers.)
“Trolling you cornballs for rooting against us is apart of the game. Deal wit it.”
Next, Durant ripped into “fan culture.”
Lets talk about the fan culture that’s been created recently. A lot of huge egos who believe they are the reason for the advancement of a sport. ALOT of idol worship, a lot of hate and division based off wins and losses, a lot of disrespect of the work being put in by these… https://t.co/UFRak9kSEG
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) August 9, 2024
“Lets talk about the fan culture that’s been created recently,” Durant posted. “A lot of huge egos who believe they are the reason for the advancement of a sport. ALOT of idol worship, a lot of hate and division based off wins and losses, a lot of disrespect of the work being put in by these incredible athletes, mostly by people who don’t know what it takes to be good at anything besides talking…
“[G]o do something and get out the way.”
Durant was not done.
That’s what yall do, yall clowns. Use players to push these corny agendas yall got. This a brotherhood fam, u not apart of. It’s a problem now cuz social media got u clowns walkin around wit your chest out like u mean something. YOU DONT!!! YOUR TAKES DONT MATTER https://t.co/DVWyR9ZDMD
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) August 9, 2024
“That’s what yall do, yall clowns,” Durant said, seemingly talking about NBA fans. “Use players to push these corny agendas yall got. This a brotherhood fam, u not apart of. It’s a problem now cuz social media got u clowns walkin around wit your chest out like u mean something.
“YOU DONT!!! YOUR TAKES DONT MATTER.”
Durant and Team USA are once again favorites in the gold medal game against France, which will take place Saturday.
