Durant laments ‘childish’ behavior
The forward apologizes for OKC Twitter remarks
SAN FRANCISCO >> For a man eager to make further inroads into the tech industry, Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant experienced a painful lesson on navigating social media.
After a fan pressed him why he left the Thunder for Golden State last summer, Durant responded on his official Twitter account with a critique of both the Thunder’s roster and Oklahoma City coach Billy Donovan.
So when Durant and his business partner Rich Kleiman appeared at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco on Tuesday, Durant did not shy away from an incident he admitted “was tough to deal with.” Though Durant did not clarify if he originally attempted to make these comments through a different account impersonating as a Durant fan, the Warriors’ star admitted he typed the words.
“I don’t regret clapping back at anybody or talking to my fans
on Twitter,” Durant said. “I do regret using my former coach’s name and the former organization I played for. That was childish. That was idiotic, all those type of words. I apologize for that.”
Most athletes blame social media gaffes toward either someone hacking their account, or an intern mistakenly posting something incorrect. Durant did not resort to such tactics.
“I do have other Instagram accounts, but that’s just for my friends and family. So I wouldn’t say I was using it to clap back at anyone,” Durant said. “I use Twitter to engage with fans. I think it’s a great way to engage with basketball fans. I happened to take it a little too far. That’s what happens sometimes when I get into these basketball debates. What I really love is just to play basketball.”
Durant has faced intense criticism in the past year for his desire to play basketball for the Warriors. While some have focused on Durant joining a star-stacked team only one year removed from winning the 2015 NBA Finals, others have centered more on Durant’s relationship with former Thunder teammate Russell Westbrook. In a tweet that has since been deleted, Durant offered insight on his decision in the third person, suggesting he attempted to speak on his behalf as a fan.
“He didn’t like the organization or playing for Billy Donovan,” Durant wrote. “His roster wasn’t that good, it was just him and Russ. Imagine taking him and Russ off that team, see how bad they were. KD can’t win a championship with those cats.”
Once that tweet created a social media stir, Durant said he “was pretty upset with myself.” He then added, “I definitely want to move on and keep playing basketball.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever stop engaging with my fans,” Durant said. “I really enjoy it and I think it’s a good way to connect us all. But I’ll scale that back a little bit right now and just focus on playing basketball.”
Though he has mostly focused on basketball, Durant and Kleiman have made 30 investments in various tech companies, including Postmates, Rubrik and The Players Tribune. Durant also launched a YouTube channel in April 2017 that the company said has gained over 350,000 subscribers and nearly 11 million views fueled by video hits. Durant’s investments have proven relatively conservative, with Kleiman estimating they are anywhere between $50,000 to $225,000 and $225,000 to $2 million. That pales comparably to what Durant has made in his NBA career and other off-court endorsements.
“If I can’t in one sentence explain the company and get a reaction out of him where his eyes open up and he wants to be with them, that’s a no for me,” Kleiman said. “If I can’t explain it one sentence, then the regular consumer is not going to understand it in one sentence. That’s our first line of defense.”
Their second line of defense? Durant has surrounded himself with advisers that can educate him about the tech industry, while mostly focusing on perfecting his craft on the court.
“When I play basketball, I enjoy it and I respect it and I play as hard as I can,” Durant said. “But I know my skills will take over at any point. So I try to be a great teammate, try to listen and try to learn as much as I can. If it’s something I know, I try to jump on it and do it as hard as I can. But I know coming into this environment where I’m not the smartest or strongest just yet, I try to take the same approach as a growing basketball player.”
And as he experienced earlier this week on Twitter, Durant took the first step toward correcting his mistake by quickly apologizing for it.