In a very revealing interview with Ric Bucher of Bleacher Report, Kevin Durant aired out most of his personal frustrations with the way he's been portrayed since deciding to join the Golden State Warriors, counter-punching pundits who have had more than two cents to say about him since leaving the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Durant was the center of every drama that happened within the team or with any of his former teammates in OKC, not to mention the endless amount of finger-pointing and name-calling in social media — an avenue he's always frequented.
“If I [respond], it's: ‘No, you're sensitive. Shut up. You're supposed to take it. Everybody did it. Michael went through it.' I'm like, hold up. Michael Jordan did not go through this,” said Durant. “You know what Michael Jordan went through? Reading the paper and it says, ‘Oh, Michael Jordan was 7-for-33 the night before, how the f**k is he going to bounce back?' That's criticism. Criticism is not, ‘(blank), you moved to (blank), you're a b**ch, a coward.' That's not criticism.”
“Criticism is calling me Mr. Unreliable and bouncing back the next night.”
Durant is referring to an infamous Game 5 of the Thunder's 2014 first-round playoff series, where his team fell to the Memphis Grizzlies in overtime to take a 3-2 series lead. Durant missed a free throw in the final 28 seconds that would've tied the game, as well as a three-pointer that could've won it. Two days later, during the morning of Game 6 in Memphis, the front page of The Oklahoman newspaper's sports section had a photo of Durant surrounded by three Grizzlies players with the headline, “Mr. Unreliable.”
Durant bounced back that night with 36 points and 10 rebounds, as the Thunder won in a rout and rode that momentum to a series victory.
“That was a huge moment in my career,” Durant said. “That's something I dreamed about overcoming as a kid. I didn't dream about motherf**kers calling me a b**ch on social media because I switched teams.”
“Because that's not criticism. That's actually you being a b**ch, worrying about me and my personal life.”
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