Subscribe
Follow Us
Ethan Strauss' “The Victory Machine,” a book detailing the Golden State Warriors' road to multiple winning seasons, set more than a few candles alight upon its release in April. One of the most controversial parts of the book stemmed from Kevin Durant's tiff with Strauss after a story he had published for The Athletic — a section that clearly painted the now-Brooklyn Nets forward as a malcontent worried about his own image.
Despite their earlier confrontations, Strauss reached out to Durant after he had made the move to Brooklyn as a way to do his due diligence, but he got a much-expected text response after the two butted heads during his last year with the Warriors:
“F*ck u, f*ck your sources and your book,” Durant replied to Strauss after the latter reached out for comment, per Hua Hsu of The New Yorker.
The Nets superstar hasn't been fond of Strauss, that much is evident from the book. As a columnist at The Athletic, Strauss has to poke the bear at times, tasked with writing different angles than what most beat writers are asked to do.
In fact, most athletes that have had their tiffs with the media are often angry about opinions or columns that paint them in a way different from the run-of-the-mill game reports from beat writers that cover the team.
Back in Jan. 2019. Strauss wrote about how the Warriors had tried hard to make Durant happy, but questioned his tone and later accused him of “trying to rile up” Stephen Curry's fans and how the local media wanted to “kiss Steph's ass.”
The two were clearly not in good terms during Durant's last season in The Bay before moving on to the Nets, but this text response surely makes that clear and sound.
