Total Pro Sports Kevin Durant and Tom Brady
Brooklyn Nets star forward Kevin Durant is no stranger to the world of social media. When you look at the current NBA landscape, Durant probably interacts with his fans on social media more than any athlete of his stature. The Nets star is active on many social media platforms, but of all his accounts, he is probably the most active on Twitter.
Some people have implored Durant to slow down his social media activity because of his status as a public figure. Other athletes like LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Giannis Antetokounmpo ignore the hate they receive online and use it as fuel for their next game. But Tampa Bay Buccaneers star Tom Brady is one of the people that enjoys KD’s social media banter.
“I think the point is everyone should be authentic to who they are. People approach it in different ways, and it just has to work for them and their personality. I definitely say things in the moment, and with me, my style is just to ignore as much as possible and realize most of the people in the conversation don’t have a full idea of what’s really going on,” Brady said on his “Let’s Go” podcast with Jim Gray where Durant was a guest.
“But I appreciate people that can do what Kevin [Durant] does and some other people do and just call it out. I have a lot of respect for that. I’m always like, ‘You go K.D.! Let ’em have it!’ I enjoy that part, too, because I like him, and it makes it easy to agree with his side.”
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Durant Sounds off on His Social Media Banter
Durant’s delivery during his social media exchanges can come off as brash, and his refusal to pull punches has gotten him in trouble in the past. He was fined $50,000 last season after actor Michael Rapaport revealed an exchange he and the Nets star had in a private message thread where Durant used derogatory language.
But he says that nothing he says during his social media arguments is personal. It is just his passion for the game of basketball on display.
“I always enjoy talking [about] the game of basketball. I happen to be a topic most of the time. But I’m still passionate talking about other players or situations or comparing eras. I’m just passionate about the game, so sometimes when I’m talking about me, I just happen to know the truth. It can sometimes look like I’m combative when I’m telling the truth,” Durant said.
“It may rub some people the wrong way, but at the end of the day, it’s a conversation about a sport, so I don’t think it gets personal. Some people may take it personal, from me against them, but I don’t push it that way. It’s always about the game. I don’t take it that serious to be honest.”
Durant, Kyrie Among NBA’s Most Disliked Players
Saying Durant is one of the most hated players in the NBA is not just an opinion. It is a statistical fact. Per Alex Kennedy of Basketball News, a 2021 study by Top Ranked Casino gathered information on which NBA
players receive the most negative tweets.
“They compiled roughly 3,000 tweets that were sent to various NBA players between October 2020 to January 2021, and each tweet was analyzed for positive, negative, and neutral words using the online analytics tool SEMrush,” Kennedy writes.
The top five players on the list were Steph Curry, Russell Westbrook, Joel Embiid, LeBron James, and Durant. Nets star Kyrie Irving was right behind Durant, coming in sixth place on the list.
After being swept by the Boston Celtics in last year’s playoffs, the Nets are entering this season with championship aspirations. Durant may find himself having to defend himself even more than before.