Kevin Durant recently admitted that he was always “combative” while growing up, and also revealed the real motivation he has behind responding to fans on social media. Therefore, when a Warriors fan went viral for questioning his legacy, Durant did not hold back in responding to him, which started a chain of exchanges between him and multiple fans.
The main topic of conversation started when a Warriors fan, an X user, ‘@Joissbert’, celebrated Jimmy Butler’s solid start with the Warriors with a shot at Kevin Durant’s potential presence in their locker room. Mind you, Durant could have potentially made a return to the Warriors this summer, which he reportedly turned down.
“I would rather have Jimmy Butler in my basketball team and locker room than have b***h a** Kevin Durant making my life miserable. We dodged a f**king bullet, didn’t we?” said the fan on X while addressing other Warriors fans.
“You aren’t on the team, my boy lol,” responded Durant, giving him a subtle reminder about a fan’s place in an organization’s priority charts.
Another fan took this response personally and called out Durant for making the fan feel excluded from the franchise.
“Nothing irritates me more than players thinking fans can’t call it their team. Without fans, y’all wouldn’t have s**t! KD continues to remain the softest and most outta touch dude in the NBA,” said the X user ‘@Mattxy12’ on social media.
“Out of touch fans like Matt think because he’s obsessed with the Bears, he’s a part of the team. They would get the police to escort u out of the film room if u tried to walk in,” said the Rockets’ superstar in a cold response.
“Another lie. Nobody on the Bears or their fans knows you exist. I’m shining a bright light on you, maybe a Bears executive will notice and send you a care package,” Durant further added when the fan tried to claim that he’s a part of the NFL’s Chicago Bears’ fanbase.
Now, while Durant constantly engages with fans on social media, he has left me with a curiosity-raising question in my mind. Do fans have the right to treat an organization as their own just because they are supporting them?
We see several instances where fans are yelling at players for ruining their betting parlays, even as early as the preseason games. Fans are even being investigated for alleged involvement in gambling controversies. While it was already getting out of hand before money was involved, with fans involving their money, it seems as though they sometimes treat the players like they are the ones paying their salary and not the team owners.
Therefore, I am in support of Kevin Durant’s expectation that fans respect the professional boundaries instead of going overboard with their support for the respective sports team. Otherwise, a very thin line stops another Malice at the Palace incident from repeating itself.
