CAN’T HURRY LOVE
Good on KD for owning up to tweets, but he has to cope with fans’ vitriol
At least Kevin Durant didn’t claim his Twitter account was hacked. That tired defense only fools a fool. The rest of us want — and in some cases demand — a heartfelt apology. So let’s give Durant a little credit for accepting responsibility for critical comments he has since deleted from his Twitter account that were directed at the Oklahoma City Thunder and his former coach Billy Donovan. That’s a good start.
“I do regret using my former coach’s name and the former organization I played for,” Durant said on Tuesday. “That was childish. That was idiotic, all those type of words. I apologize for that.
“I don’t think I’ll stop engaging with fans. I really enjoy it and it’s a good way to connect us all, but I’ll scale back a little bit right now and just focus on playing basketball. I’ll move on from that, it was tough to deal with yesterday. I was pretty mad at myself. Definitely want to move on and keep playing basketball.”
Durant has denied having a second Twitter account that he could theoretically use under an alias to respond to fans critical of him. Despite the denials, this sounds like the most plausible explanation: Durant inadvertently used the alias account when he tweeted his comments about OKC and Donovan.
It makes perfect sense because Durant has proven to be incredibly thinskinned since leaving OKC to join the mighty Golden State Warriors two summers ago.
Durant mistakenly believed that winning a title and being named NBA Finals MVP would validate his move. The championship would convert “the haters” as Durant calls them.
Except it doesn’t work that way. Durant seemingly has everything; fame, fortune and a Hall of Fame resume. But he badly wants to be loved. Not just by NBA fans worldwide but especially the good folks in Oklahoma City.
Playing in small market OKC, Durant was viewed as a brilliant player, a humble superstar as well as a caring citizen. Four years ago, Durant donated $1 million to assist with disaster relief efforts in the wake of a tornado that swept through Oklahoma. He was later inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, joining such notables as Gene Autry, Mickey Mantle and T. Boone Pickens.
Durant was on the fast track to having a statue built in his honor. That was until he left for the Bay Area to chase championships and was vilified as a pampered athlete taking a short cut to a title.
Durant was well within his free agent rights to sign with Golden State. Likewise, fans are well within their right to criticize Durant for compromising the competitive balance in the NBA and taking an easier road to a title. It works both ways.
Nothing is a given. Durant had to earn his first-ever championship, that’s for sure. But there is no denying he took an easier route. It was the classic if you can’t beat them, join them. The Warriors had already won a title and a record 73 regular season games without him. With him, they may be unbeatable in a seven-game series.
That doesn’t sit well with everyone and clearly it bothers Durant, who lashed out on Twitter and then had to retreat just as qucikly.
This comes a week after Durant released a new sneaker that features some of the critical comments on the insoles.
“I get the snake comment so many times, I might just tattoo one of those on my arm,” Durant said.
You could say Durant is just having fun with the negative attention he’s received, or you can say that Durant has an unhealthy obsession over his public image. Hence, the infamous tweet that Durant sent, then deleted and then finally apologized for.
I haven’t slept in two days, two nights,” Durant told USA Today. “I haven’t ate. It’s crazy, because I feel so (expletive) pissed at myself and I’m mad that I brought someone into it.”
No need to play the victim here, Kevin. What you did is not a crime. It’s a silly mistake, but one that you can certainly learn from. ou’re fighting a losing battle when it comes to addressing your critics. It is wasted energy. Don’t believe me? Go ask your buddy LeBron. You just won the first of many championships last June. That’s why you signed with Golden State in the first place, remember? In the end, you won. Enjoy it. Just don’t expect unconditional love from all corners of the globe, especially in OKC. That was deleted a long time ago.
Y