Brooklyn Nets: Kevin Durant calls out Shannon Sharpe for lying yet again
By Jerry Trotta
Almost to a fault, Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant doesn’t shy away from calling out loudmouths on social media.
As fans know, his sensitivity came to a head a few weeks ago when actor Michael Rapaport publicized disturbing direct messages Durant sent to him during an argument.
The screenshots didn’t portray Durant in a positive light, and the NBA promptly conveyed its zero-tolerance policy for such language by hitting him with a $50,000 fine. As expected, that discipline wasn’t enough to dissuade the two-time Finals MVP from continuing his social media antics.
There are times when Durant’s thin skin plays works to his benefit, like when he flat out roasts random Twitter trolls who hide behind fake profiles. There are also occurrences when Durant is brash enough to come at some of the biggest personalities in sports media.
During Monday’s episode of “Undisputed,” co-host Shannon Sharpe regurgitated a previous quote from Durant in which the four-time scoring champ claimed that championships were no longer his greatest source of motivation.
There was only one problem. This wasn’t actually a quote from Durant. It was a fake one that made the rounds on social media a few months ago. After stumbling across Sharpe’s miscue, Durant predictably took the Hall of Fame tight end to task.
Nets star Kevin Durant blasted “Undisputed” co-host Shannon Sharpe for spewing lies on live television.
"“Kevin Durant thought by winning the title, people would regard him universally as the best player in the NBA,” said Sharpe. “Better than even LeBron James But very few people were willing to go there. And then he’s like…Because he said it. ‘If LeBron James is the GOAT. I beat the GOAT twice, and hit the shot in his building. What does that make me?'”"
We thought we had seen the last of this quote when ESPN analyst Jay Williams was tricked into believing that Durant uttered it back in October, but here we are.
Nets fans will be quick to remember that an account titled “Depressed Nets Fan” gave birth to the quote and posted it in a tweet (which has since been deleted) that looked official thanks to some clever graphic effects and design work.
This is precisely why so many fans don’t take these kind of shows seriously. All it would’ve taken was some simple leg work for Sharpe to avoid getting flamed by Durant, but he was evidently blinded by his infatuation for LeBron James, who he regularly proclaims as basketball’s GOAT.
Durant was itching for Sharpe to clap back at him, and he unfortunately received just one reply before the Fox Sports personality blocked him. Yes, that actually happened.
Responding to being shunned by Sharpe, Durant unleashed an even more savage tweet than his initial post.
Fans in Brooklyn can go ahead and chalk up another W in the win column for Durant and his hyperactive Twitter fingers.
We’re not sure how many prominent sports media members have to get blasted by the 11-time All-Star before they learn to confirm their facts before slandering him, but the parting message remains the same: if you come at Durant, you better come correct.
If you don’t, you’ll get trolled into oblivion and may never recover.