Kevin Durant on the Criticism He's Dealt With: 'Michael Jordan Did Not Go Through This'

Kevin Durant believes he's had to deal with more criticism in his career than Jordan has.

Kevin Durant
USA Today Sports

Image via USA Today Sports/Jerome Miron

Kevin Durant

For reasons that were obvious at the time (and later confirmed by a super dull postseason), Kevin Durant dealt with a substantial amount of criticism when he signed with the Warriors in the summer of 2016 after spending eight seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder/Seattle Supersonics.

Frankly, this was probably fair in the context of an NBA fan wanting to watch something entertaining. After all, sports are supposed to be entertainment. But of course, as has become the custom in a society where the internet has exposed just how many weirdos out there lack perspective, some people took it too far. The line there is probably somewhat thin, but hopefully you can identify when somebody has crossed it.

On Thursday, a long-form interview conducted by Bleacher Report's Ric Bucher dropped where KD got candid about concepts like "loyalty" and potentially over-the-top fan reactions to his decision to sign with the Warriors. On the latter subject, KD invoked Michael Jordan, and stated that even MJ didn't have to deal with the level of criticism that he has. While that's probably true (in fairness) it's not like Jordan signed with the Pistons in the late '80s/early '90s. As transcribed by The Score, Durant said:

I'm a person. I've got real feelings and I'm not afraid to be vulnerable in front of people who watch us play or that follow the league. It's f---ed up that you're saying that stuff about me, because just a couple months before, I was the greatest thing since sliced bread because I was playing for your team. Your team is on TV every day, playing late into the playoffs and you get to brag about how good your city is to some other people around the country. It was all good when I was doing something for you. It was all good when I was representing you. Now I decided to take my career in my hands and I'm a 'b----'? That's confusing ... because some people that I'd seen that cheered for me, people that I actually talked to, the faces they were giving me, the tone they had when they looked at me, it was weird.

In that last sentence, Durant is referring to the below May 1, 2014 front page of The Oklahoman, which was printed out following a Game 5 first round loss to the Grizzlies where KD missed a game-tying free-throw and potentially game-tying three-pointer in the contest's final seconds. Note that KD responded with 36 points and 10 boards in Game 6 and the Thunder eventually won the series:

While the above answer will probably continue the catch-22 type trend of Durant being criticized because he continues to dwell on the criticism (which is acknowledged in the article), you should read the piece in full before developing an opinion on it. In addition to full context for the quote above, it also contains anecdotes about how the 2017 Finals MVP feels about OKC, how he was embraced by the community in Seattle before the franchise left, and how pissed he felt when he learned the Thunder gave his old jersey number to undrafted rookie P.J. Dozier.

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