Kevin Durant scored 32 points in the Brooklyn Nets’ blowout Game 1 win over the Milwaukee Bucks — a game in which Durant thoroughly outplayed Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Now, for what seems like the past decade, ESPN’s programming has shifted from sports highlights to former athletes talking about sports. The network’s morning show, Get Up, falls right into that category, and Durant wasn’t too pleased with what he heard Jay Williams say during Tuesday’s edition.
While discussing that Giannis-Durant matchup, Williams was reminded of an interaction he said he had with Durant at a party a couple years ago. According to Williams, Durant took issue with a comparison the ESPN personality made between Durant and Giannis. Williams said that Durant confronted him about the take at the party.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CP3E5klAlaX/
“Don’t you ever compare me to Giannis again,” Williams claimed that Durant said.
Well, that interaction was seemingly news to Durant because the Nets star took to social media and said that Williams made the whole thing up.
Durant commented on an Instagram video of the segment:
This a (expletive) lie. Jay Williams can NEVER speak for me, ever…
He’d also tweeted (NSFW language):
Mans will do anything to advance their careers in this media shit, wanting to be accepted by an industry that will dispose of you whenever they please. Keep me out all that corny ass talk about whos better and legacy and all that dumb ass shit. I don’t even talk like that
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) June 8, 2021
Williams has yet to respond to Durant’s tweets. From ESPN’s perspective, it would be a serious problem to have a personality fabricating stories on television — if that’s what happened.
Williams’ story did run on the contrary to Durant’s own public comments about Giannis in 2017 where Durant complimented Giannis and compared himself to the Greek Freak. Via Bleacher Report:
“I like long, athletic guys. That’s just who I am. The Greek Freak I think is a force, and I’ve never seen anything like him. And his ceiling is probably—he could end up being the best player to ever play if he really wanted to. That’s pretty scary to think about. But he’s by far my favorite player to watch.”
Durant said of Giannis that same year on The Bill Simmons Podcast:
“Look at Giannis. Giannis Antetokounmpo, this guy is scary. He’s more athletic than I am. He’s longer than me. He’s faster. He’s going to be stronger than I am.
“… A lot of people told me he looked up to me, and I didn’t know that, but a lot of people said that. We played in Milwaukee one time and I was working out before the game and I just saw him staring at me, just watching me the whole time. I was like it feels good that I can influence a young guy like that.”
So in that context, why would Durant be so upset about Williams’ supposed comparison between KD and Giannis when Durant so openly made that comparison himself? We’ll have to see if Williams issues a response.
https://youtu.be/pzN93qXVXBc