On Thursday, while he was being accosted by a TMZ cameraman at his own Kevin Durant Day parade in Seat Pleasant, Maryland, Kevin Durant did not mince words when it came to the man currently occupying the White House Monday through Friday.Â
If you're wondering what the context was for his remarks, the reigning Finals MVP was asked about how vocal several NBA players have been recently about Donald Trump. "Hell yeah, hell yeah. We're supposed to be," KD responded. "We don't fuck with him."
Then, asked if he saw himself getting involved with public criticism at some point, he didn't directly respond while he was signing a shoe. However, it seems that was just a delay, as he basically answered later in the day during an interview with ESPN.
What Durant told the Worldwide Leader is that he wouldn't be visiting the White House if the champs were to be invited, which actually has yet to happen. "Nah, I won't do that," he said. "I don't respect who's in office right now."
Durant says that wasn't necessarily a team decision, but rather a personal one. "I don't agree with what he agrees with, so my voice is going to be heard by not doing that," he said. "That's just me personally, but if I know my guys well enough, they'll all agree with me."
Considering the Warriors will probably win the championship every season for the foreseeable future, we'll see if this is a permanent decision on KD's part, or more of a one time thing.
He also spoke about what happened at Charlottesville this past weekend. "I just wanted to sit back and analyze everything and gather my thoughts," he said. "I wanted to say something immediately, but I definitely want to be the voice of where I come from and people who have come from my neighborhood and deal with oppression.
"I'm representing a lot of people. As far as what's going on in our country, for one, as an athlete, you have to commend Colin Kaepernick, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, CP3 [Chris Paul][and] Dwyane Wade for starting that conversation last year. Russell Westbrook also said something in his speech. A lot [of] guys with platforms have drove the conversation in a good direction. And what's going on in Charlottesville, that was unfathomable."
You can read Durant's full comments over at ESPN.
