On Thursday morning, ESPN ran a story about how the first month-plus in the Bay Area has gone for Kevin Durant. The article is filled with details about how life has been both on and off the basketball court for the former MVP, including anecdotes about how he was too busy to find a house when he first moved as well as how he's adjusted to a pregame routine with the Warriors that involves more dancing than KD would like. The story also gives specifics about how KD has dealt with an outpouring of social media anger aimed in his direction.
To show everyone what KD is forced to deal with on a regular basis, ESPN pointed out that, in late November, the Warriors star sent out a tweet thanking then-Texas football head coach Charlie Strong for the job he did at KD's former school. This was literally all that KD wrote:
Seems pretty harmless, right? Well, here were the types of responses he got. See if you can pick up on the theme:
Man, these things just keep going forever.
Anyway, Durant talked to ESPN about how he deals with responses like those, and he said that it's actually easier than you might think. "It is what it is, but I tell you one thing, all that stuff stays [online]. Nobody's ever coming to me in my face and saying none of that," Durant said. "It's jokes. Everybody is just waiting for it. If you really didn't care [what I say], you wouldn't even follow my tweets. So obviously you care about something. But what, I'm going to get mad at that? Hell nah."
KD also explained that he's come to understand why people attack him online like they do. "That's what kind of makes their day," he said. "Just being like, 'Oh, I talked to one of my favorite basketball players [on social media]. Even though I hate him, but he's still one of my favorites. I talked to a celebrity I really like but everybody else hates him, so I'm going to join in on the party.' Everybody's jumping on the waves. That's just how it is."
Ultimately, Durant noted that kids are what make playing in the NBA fun—not super-pissed off people projecting their hate on Twitter. "The people who really enjoy the game, who really know the game, who don't care about none of that [off the court] stuff are kids, and they matter the most," Durant said.
And he added that he'll continue to be a presence on social media, regardless of what people might say to him. "It's fun, man, because it's entertainment," he said. "And I appreciate them letting us give them that opportunity, that experience. So if you want to heckle or if you want to cheer, as long as you're getting a release from whatever is going on in your normal life, that's cool. That's what life is about. You have to take the good with the bad."
Guess that's his way of saying keep the "snake" tweets coming. You can read the entire ESPN story here.
