Kevin Durant Ignites Social Media Beef With Ex-Warriors Teammates Over LeBron James’ Move to Philadelphia 76ers
Kevin Durant still seems salty about the negative reaction NBA fans had to a decision he made just over a decade ago.
Months after losing to the Golden State Warriors in the playoffs in 2016, Durant made the shocking decision to join the Warriors, who had just set an NBA record by going 73-9 in the regular season, as a free agent.
The move was viewed by many as unfair since Durant, 28 years old at the time, was still an MVP candidate in his prime. Now, Durant is trying to compare his move to the decision of 41-year-old LeBron James to join the Philadelphia 76ers in free agency this offseason.
In the process, though, Durant seems to have ticked off his former Warriors teammates Draymond Green and Klay Thompson.
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In a series of Instagram comments downplaying the talent of his ex-Warriors teammates, Durant made the case that the current 76ers team James is joining is more loaded.
“Ain’t close Imao,” Durant wrote to argue that 76ers are more talented. “Joel (Embiid), mvp recently. Jaylen brown, recent finals mvp, Tyrese Maxey, all star the last 3 years. We all know what bron does.”
Durant then pointed out the past production of Thompson and Green.
“Klay Thompson, never a mvp candidate in nothing, 22 (points per game),” Durant wrote. “Draymond, 14ppg 7 rebounds 6 assist, Steph (Curry) a mvp just like Joel was. I don’t get how the warriors team is better on paper.”
Thompson noticed Durant’s comments and mentioned him on Instagram.
“Aye man u good? ” Thompson wrote. “@easymoneysniper what u using my full government for?”
Durant has been caught and accused of using social media “burner” accounts to criticize teammates online while concealing his identity in the past. That social media history led to a snarky reply about Durant from Green.
“Slim thought he was on his burner? (laughing emojis),” Green wrote on Threads.
While it cannot be denied that the 76ers are now a NBA Finals contender with James on the roster, Durant may be going too far by comparing the Philadelphia roster to the Warriors one he was added to in 2016.
James, who has been relatively healthy throughout his 23 seasons in NBA, is still at the tail end of his career, unlike Durant was back then; Embiid constantly gets injured, making it hard to count on his production being available.
There’s also the matter of meshing James, Maxey and Embiid with Brown, who also recently joined the team following a trade with the Boston Celtics.
The question marks that exist around the 76ers did not surround the Warriors when Durant arrived, as they immediately won two championships in a row. Golden State would probably have won three consecutive titles if Durant did not tear his Achilles in the 2019 NBA Finals.
Despite his success with the Warriors and winning two Finals MVP awards, Durant left the team in free agency after his Achilles injury, partially due to the fact many NBA fans still were not giving him the credit he thought he deserved.
To some, the Warriors were always going to be Curry’s team since they won a championship before Durant got there.
Since Durant has not won another championship since leaving the Warriors in 2019, and it seems that narrative is still bothering him.
If that is not the case, bringing James’ choice to go to the 76ers into the discussion years later just appears to be a cheap way to try and lessen the criticism for a decision Durant is still not at peace with.