Oklahomans still pining for more substantial reasoning behind former Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant’s decision to split town and join the Golden State Warriors more than a year ago got it in the form of a now infamous Twitter tirade.
Durant told USA Today that he had just woken from a nap when he saw a tweet from a random stranger asking for one good reason the reigning NBA Finals most valuable player left the Thunder. Post-nap Twitter judgment has always been one of the worst kinds of Twitter judgment, right behind the 3 a.m. post-bar variety.
Durant responded to the tweet on his official Twitter account in the third person, which led many readers to the likely conclusion that he had intended the comment to be an anonymous one from a separate account.
“He didn’t like the organization or playing for [head coach] Billy Donovan,” his response read. “His roster wasn’t that good, it was just him and russ (Russell Westbrook). Imagine taking russ off that team, see how bad they were. Kd can’t win a championship with those cats.”
Durant had been fairly guarded and political when addressing the public about his decision in the past, but if this response was any more off-the-cuff, it’d be in orbit.
Though he could have easily taken the tired “I got hacked” defense, Durant surprisingly fessed up to the comments, telling USA Today that he’d lost sleep and his appetite since the (now deleted) comments were posted.
The remarkable thing here is that Durant actually has other Twitter accounts that he uses for whatever reasons, including presumably to respond to Twitter haters.
The basketball star often argues on social media with his critics, but rarely about his decision to leave OKC — at least not from his official account.
Former center and “’Stache Bro” Enes Kanter, who was traded to the New York Knicks early this week, appropriately took to Twitter for his response to the message.
“I don’t care what anyone says,” he wrote. “Oklahoma City Thunder is the best and most professional organization in the NBA and got the craziest fans. We win, we lose; but the most important thing we stick together because we are one. And those cats, I call them FAMILY.”
