Me And Kevin Durant Are Going At It On X Over The NBA Falling Apart
Kevin Durant doesn't believe the NBA has a problem. In fact, he thinks it's YOU, the fan, that is at fault if you don't appreciate the product that it puts out. Your lack of appreciation has nothing to do with the players themselves.
My conversation with Durant started yesterday on X when we went back and forth over what's currently happening with the NBA. That was only launched that much more into near-disastrous territory after Sunday night's dreadful abomination of what they considered an All-Star Game. I explained to Durant why I believe Sunday was a turning point for the league for all the wrong reasons - something that will take YEARS for it to recover from,
"I think it's more fun to complain about the NBA than to actually watch it. Crazy, cancel all star weekend and let's just give everybody a break since we're so miserable around this time…" the 2x NBA Champion passively tweeted as social media lit the NBA on fire after the pathetic display on Sunday (in which LeBron James announced only a short time beforehand that he wouldn't be playing, because of course he did).
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PLAYERS ARE LYING TO THEMSELVES IF THEY DON'T THINK THERE'S AN ISSUE
I then challenged Durant that with Monday being an off day, to take the time and watch the ACTUAL television broadcast from beginning to end. All 3-plus hours of the travesty that included massive stoppages that even players like Trae Young said he "didn't like it at all," as well as Kevin Hart being involved for some reason and other bizarre segments.
In total, there were 2 hours and 26 minutes of commercials and segments that had nothing to do with the actual All-Star playing time, which amounted to 33 minutes and 41 seconds. Tell me again, how THAT's the fans' fault, Kevin? Is it the family of four that saved up hundreds of dollars to bring their young kids to a game only to hope that their favorite player actually dresses and doesn't take off for load management? Is it the Dallas Mavericks fans' fault that their owner traded away Luka Doncic to the Lakers of all teams?! And let's not even bring up King James decreeing that his son Bronny should be on the Lakers.
Durant then responded back to me, telling me "he gets it," but added that "Fans complain about EVERYTHING. Like nothing is good enough for the fans right now. The only thing they enjoy is playoffs, trade deadline, free agency and then when players beef with each other. LOL." That comment, however, showed that he truly doesn't get it.
Earlier today, I appeared on Dan Dakich's Don't @ Me program on OutKick (Full episode here) and even went further - Kevin Durant and many of the players don't understand that they have lost not only the NBA fan, the NBA media, and also the Internet - the latter of which is going to take a VERY long time to recover from.
As I told Dakich, Sunday's abomination of the NBA All-Star Game has given justification to the NBA haters out there because they are now joined by many actual NBA fans and even the NBA media. Hell, even current and former players in NBA media are openly mocking the league. The NBA has become the butt of the joke - and unfortunately, people aren't laughing with NBA players, but AT them.
And Kevin Durant still doesn't think there's a problem?
At one point, Durant responded in my thread and told NBA fans that have an issue with how the players play to go and "Watch the NHL instead."
With the NBA overlords making billions in massive NBA media rights deals, maybe some of them don't really care about the damage they are doing to the actual foundation of the league. You can be sure that if people continue not to tune into games and become INDIFFERENT to the actual sport itself, that advertisers will start to care.
When I brought this up to Durant, he called me "Dramatic."
We'll see if those are some famous last words on the sinking NBA Titanic ship.
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF KEVIN DURANT'S COMMENTS AND THE NBA IN GENERAL? TWEET ME: @TheGunzShow or Email me: Michael.Gunzelman@OutKick.com