Getty Kevin Durant warms up with the Golden State Warriors.
NBA Twitter has been going crazy over the past few days, and Golden State Warriors star Kevin Durant is right in the middle of it… again.
The 2014 Most Valuable Player and two-time Finals MVP dismissed the idea of there being any alleged “beef” between him and Portland Trail Blazers guard C.J. McCollum after speaking with reporters following USA Basketball minicamp in Las Vegas on Thursday:
Funny Kevin Durant back-and-forth with a reporter on the CJ McCollum twitter tiff yesterday
Durant appeared on McCollum’s podcast, Pull Up, which was released on Wednesday, to discuss several topics, including his list of greatest NBA players and what it felt like to play college basketball at the University of Texas.
Later Wednesday, McCollum, in detail, responded to a tweet from Barstool Sports’ Dan “Big Cat” Katz, which eventually prompted Durant to respond:
@CJMcCollum So,I would get into a gang fight, lose, plot on my brother for 2 months in our home and then go get the gang we lost to and beat him up? U think that low of me CJ? I just did your fuckin podcast. Snakes in the grass boy I tell ya 🤣
After 24 hours had passed and the exchange still lingered without questions answered, Durant was forced to vehemently and sarcastically re-iterate to reporters he is not upset with McCollum. He also denied any bad blood, and maintained the two remain good friends just going back-and-forth in a friendly, albeit heated Twitter exchange.
But Durant has had criticism follow him before stemming from issues dealing with his social media use:
Kevin Durant – who had burner accounts to defend himself on Twitter against critics – said the media is “trying to make me look crazy and discredit me and strip me of my credibility.” Wow, KD needs an intervention…
Durant was the subject of intense scrutiny when it was revealed last summer he had set up burner accounts of his own. Those accounts were used as a means to air his personal frustrations for the Oklahoma City Thunder organization, roster and head coach Billy Donovan.
Durant eventually became an unrestricted free agent after the 2015-16 season, following the Thunder falling short in the Western Conference Finals, eventually signing a two-year contract with the team that defeated Oklahoma City, Golden State.
The story with Durant remains he is ultra sensitive, too sensitive, about public perception of him, especially since heading to the Bay Area two summers ago.
As much as he will try to control the narrative in interviews by denying, a lot of sporadic, all-too-similar incidents such as this random spat with McCollum point to the opposite.