Kevin Durant has come to the defense of his Brooklyn Nets teammate and good buddy Kyrie Irving for what Durant believes to be some unfair criticism by the media on Irving. Durant has taken a shot at news outlets that have singled out Irving as the instigator of the movement against playing inside the Disney World bubble.
In a recent guesting on the “Play for Keeps” podcast, Kevin Durant explained why he believes Irving was wrongfully targeted just because the All-Star point guard is one of the biggest names in the NBA today.
“In this situation with the NBPA, he wasn't the only one that had a problem with what was potentially going to happen in the bubble. Like, everybody had concerns,” Durant said (h/t Jose Martinez of Complex). “But obviously, he's Kyrie—the biggest one—and that's going to sell papers. At this time, especially during the pandemic, nobody making money, so you get an opportunity to get some clicks, it's easy to use Kyrie. But it's 80, 90 players who had the same questions he had.”
Prior to the league finalizing the bubble plan, several reports surfaced about Irving organizing a Zoom video conference among a fair amount of players in order for them to discuss their unwillingness to take part in the bubble. For Durant, he is adamant that this was not how things went down.
“Kyrie wasn't the one, like, ‘Yo, let's get everybody together,'” he said. “Five or six people called one another, like, ‘Oh shit, I'm feeling that way too.' Then, another 10 people called…But Kyrie the biggest voice out of 'em all, and because he relates to everyone in the league.”
Durant has not always been Mr. Congeniality with the media, and this is another occasion wherein the former MVP has taken a narrative to air his many grievances against mainstream media. Then again, it is absolutely possible that he's actually speaking the truth here.
Follow Us
Subscribe