Kevin Durant is not exactly the most likable player in the NBA. He sort of has that love-him-or-hate him vibe going for him, and is certainly one of the most polarizing superstars in the league.
This wasn't always the case for Durant, though. During his younger years, he once held an image of being a meek and mild-mannered individual. So much so, that Nike even did a “KD is not nice” campaign to kind of change his reputation to a more ruthless competitor, if you will. Things went a bit overboard from there, and since then, he has developed a bit of beef with some of his former teammates. Below we've rounded up a few of them for your personal enjoyment.
1. Kendrick Perkins
Kendrick Perkins is without a doubt Durant's biggest adversary in the NBA — not only among former teammates but the whole league (and perhaps even every basketball personality) as well.
These two used to be teammates with the Oklahoma City Thunder for four years, but their beef started after their stint together. Perkins once called out Durant as doing the “softest move ever” when the latter decided to sign with Golden State Warriors back in 2016. Durant took that one personally and attacked Perkins' lack of contribution for the Thunder during his time in OKC.
More recently, these two went at it again on the mean streets of Twitter. Durant came to the defense of Brooklyn Nets teammate Kyrie Irving, who Perkins heavily criticized for Irving's unwillingness to support the NBA's bubble idea in Florida. Durant called Perkins a “sell-out,” which led to Perkins crying on national TV during a Stephen A. Smith interview. If you don't believe us, here's the clip of a very emotional Kendrick Perkins:
https://twitter.com/TheNBACentral/status/1274010586528067584
2. Russell Westbrook
Durant and Russell Westbrook once formed one of the most formidable pairings in the NBA during their time together with the Thunder. These two led Oklahoma to a memorable trip to the Finals back in 2012.
These two had a very close personal relationship too, which is exactly why Westbrook was absolutely ticked off when Durant decided to turn his back on the Thunder to join one of their biggest adversaries in the Warriors. This resulted in a number of fiery encounters on the basketball court, some of which even seemed to have been heading over the edge had it not been for the intervention of other players on the court. Talk about bad blood.
3. Draymond Green
Now this is easily Durant's most explosive on-court confrontation in his career. Oddly, it happened against his own teammate, Draymond Green, during their time together with the Warriors.
Green was unhappy about a particular play, and being the outspoken personality that he is, he did not hold back in absolutely blasting Durant — in front of all their teammates.
Things got so bad in the aftermath that the Warriors front office had to intervene. They suspended Green for a couple of games, who himself refused to apologize to Durant for what he had said during the heated confrontation. Many believe that this was one of the primary reasons why Durant opted to part ways with the Warriors in 2019. To this day, there has been no indication that these two have hashed things out.
4. Stephen Curry
There's no doubt that Durant holds so much respect for Steph Curry. These two — along with the other players on the Dubs, of course — dominated the NBA during their time together in Oakland. This resulted in back-to-back titles for Durant and the Warriors.
However, reports state that Durant was actually jealous of Curry during their time together as teammates. As a matter of fact, Durant once even called out the media for “kissing Curry's ass.” You'd think that Durant knew that he was going to play second fiddle to Curry when he joined the Warriors, right? Apparently, Durant was not exactly 100 percent down with this notion.
Interestingly, Durant also left out Curry when he was once asked about his Top 5 best teammates of all time. Unsurprisingly, he took Irving over the former back-to-back MVP winner.
5. Steven Adams
Remember the time Durant tweeted “SMH” when the Thunder drafted Steven Adams in 2013? Durant may have deleted that tweet shortly after, but that in itself was a clear indication of how their relationship started out.
Years later, Adams released an autobiography, in which he did not hold back whatsoever in calling out Durant for his many flaws during their time together as teammates. Safe to say, these two guys don't like each other very much.
6. Enes Kanter
Enes Kanter is one of the biggest trolls in the league, so you can be sure that he ruffled Durant's feathers once he decided to take aim at his former teammate.
Kanter threw multiple jabs towards the direction of Durant via Twitter when the latter bandwagoned to the Dubs. At one point, Kanter even told an OKC fan to burn his Durant jersey. Pretty drastric, right?
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