{"id":418409,"date":"2021-04-13T16:28:55","date_gmt":"2021-04-13T20:28:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=418409"},"modified":"2021-04-13T16:28:57","modified_gmt":"2021-04-13T20:28:57","slug":"kevin-durant-continues-to-give-fans-a-reason-to-dislike-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/kevin-durant-continues-to-give-fans-a-reason-to-dislike-him\/","title":{"rendered":"Kevin Durant Continues To Give Fans A Reason To Dislike Him"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fkevin-durant-continues-to-give-fans-a-reason-to-dislike-him%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=418409&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-1721.jpeg?w=1200&amp;h=800&amp;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p><span>It\u2019s almost as if he\u2019s doing it on purpose. Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant&nbsp;has a habit of putting his foot in his mouth. And he\u2019s done it again.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In a <\/span><span>sit down<\/span><span> with ESPN\u2019s Rachel Nichols, Durant gave the public additional ammo to get on his case:<\/span><span>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"30\">\n<p><em><span>I wasn\u2019t expecting to be a happy human being from a title. I was just expecting like, you know, the ending of a movie \u2014 once you\u2019ve worked so hard and everybody tells you like, \u2018Yo, this is what you need to be working for, is this gold ball and these rings.\u2019 And I\u2019m just like, \u2018All right, cool, let me lock in on that.\u2019 And I locked in on wanting to achieve that, but I also realized it\u2019s a lot of stuff that factors in it that\u2019s out of my control.&nbsp;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span>And once I won a championship (with Golden State), I realized that, like, my view on this game is really about development. Like, how good can I be? It\u2019s not about, you know, let\u2019s go get this championship. I appreciate that stuff and I want to experience that stuff, but it\u2019s not the end-all, be-all of why I play the game.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>Playing basketball isn\u2019t about winning championships? In fact, it\u2019s about personal development? Ridiculous.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>We worship athletes who put everything on the line in order to win. Michael Jordan\u2019s maniacal drive to win was legendary. The same can be said for the late Kobe Bryant. Even LeBron James, who draws the ire of many in his pursuit of Jordan\u2019s six championships, has a borderline obsession with winning.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>We often forget that \u201cfans\u201d stands for \u201cfanatics.\u201d We\u2019d like to think, if given the opportunity, we\u2019d \u201cBe Like Mike.\u201d Everything would be poured into winning championships if we were able to play at the highest level.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>And we expect the same from athletes.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The fans often care more about their teams than the players do. They spend thousands of dollars a year on tickets, jerseys, and TV subscriptions. It\u2019s an obsession. Unhealthy? Sure, but that doesn\u2019t change the fact that fans expect the players to want to win as much as they do.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>For years, Durant hasn\u2019t been able to grasp why he\u2019s met with indignation from so many. He still has trouble understanding why many refuse to give him full credit for his two championships with the Warriors.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Durant\u2019s public perception issues began when he made his free-agency decision to leave the Oklahoma City Thunder and joined the record setting Golden State Warriors in 2016, a move widely viewed as taking the easy way out. While with the Warriors, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MarkG_Medina\/status\/1093394362224922625?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1093394362224922625%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fsports.yahoo.com%2Fkevin-durant-angrily-rants-media-amid-free-agency-rumors-got-talk-071313426.html\"><span>his relationship with the media was quite rocky at times.&nbsp;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>Durant has long been known for his unique relationship with the media and fans. He\u2019s been caught using \u201cburner\u201d accounts on Twitter and he has no qualms about getting into social media beefs with the fans. In March, Durant had a back and forth with actor and basketball critic Michael Rapaport on Instagram. It got so bad that Durant challenged Rapaport to meet him in person.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"9.9250720461095\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I receive threats and disgusting messages DAILY, but never in my wildest dreams did I think <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KDTrey5?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@KDTrey5<\/a> would be among them. The \ud83d\udc0d himself is now threatening me, bringing up my wife and wants to fight. This is supposed to be America\u2019s sweetheart right? <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/ImDaRealMVP?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#ImDaRealMVP<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/l1VQfGMMRF\">pic.twitter.com\/l1VQfGMMRF<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 MichaelRapaport (@MichaelRapaport) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MichaelRapaport\/status\/1376997269107470338?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 30, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>While Durant later apologized for the exchange, it was yet another example of his sensitivity to criticism.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>While every NBA player has different reasons for playing, and Durant is certainly entitled to have his own form of motivation, the public is also entitled to have issues with those reasons.<\/p>\n<p><span>While we should have an understanding of how difficult it is to be a public figure, it\u2019s hard to cut Durant much slack when he\u2019s constantly putting his foot in his mouth.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Winning isn\u2019t the ultimate goal? That\u2019s fine, but don\u2019t expect the stance to sit well with the fans.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>The views expressed in this piece are the author\u2019s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a class=\"in-cell-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">member<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s almost as if he\u2019s doing it on purpose. Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant\u00a0has a habit of putting his foot in his mouth. And he\u2019s done it again.\u00a0In a sit &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2312123,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-1721.jpeg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"Kevin Durant Continues To Give Fans A Reason To Dislike Him","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-418409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-1721.jpeg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"Kevin Durant Continues To Give Fans A Reason To Dislike Him","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=418409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418409\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2312123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=418409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=418409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=418409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}