Kevin Durant and Stephen A. Smith aren’t exactly on the best term, as the Suns star has taken exception to some of Smith’s reporting and pontificating for years. Most recently, Durant expressed his frustration with Smith claiming he isn’t a good leader.
Smith reported this summer that the Suns wanted out of Durant amid rumors the Rockets were pursuing the star in a trade. The Sun’s then denied that publicly and as the 2024-25 season began, Durant was in a Phoenix uniform. Still, Smith continued to prod at the star, calling him out for a lack of vocal leadership and being an aloof star in the locker room. Durant responded on Twitter (as he often does) and then again this weekend when asked about the leadership talk by The Athletic’s Doug Haller.
Durant questioned why anyone listens to Stephen A., calling him “a clown” and calling into question his sources, noting he’s never in practices or the locker room. Unsurprisingly, Smith responded on Monday morning on ‘First Take’ with a lengthy diatribe where he said he wouldn’t respond with the same “kind of pettiness and childishness” and questioned who is allowed to talk about Durant, listing off all the people KD has taken issue with (watch here).
“I got bad news for Kevin Durant, if you’re expecting me to reciprocate with that kind of pettiness and childishness, it’s not gonna happen,” Smith said. “Kevin Durant is one of the greatest players to ever play this game. He’s a future Hall of Famer, he’s a two-time champion, two-time Finals MVP, and I’ve been on the record saying he’s also a good dude. So if he wants to resort to that level, even though we’re both grown men and if he had something to say he knows my number and he refrains from doing so, that’s something he has to live with.
“Having said all of that, respectfully, Kevin Durant can you stop lying, please? I’ve been an NBA reporter and I was a columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer as well. Kevin Durant has seen me in the locker room when he was at Oklahoma City. He has seen me in the locker room when he was at Golden State. He has certainly seen me at games throughout his career. But, unfortunately for him, I don’t have to be at shootaround and I don’t have to be in the postgame locker room. I happen to have a hit show that’s been No. 1 for 12 years, I have other things to do with my time. I go to games all the time. I’m not a beat writer anymore.
“The other thing I would say is this, Kevin Durant is going to have to answer this question: Who is allowed to talk about him? Charles Barkley played this game as a Hall of Famer. He got at Charles Barkley. Shannon Sharpe is a Super Bowl champion and a Hall of Famer. He got at Shannon. He got at players, the CJ McCollums of the world, the Dennis Schroders of the world, and others. He’s gotten at fans, and did it discreetly because he had accounts that didn’t reveal who he was. It’s contemporaries and colleagues, it’s former players, it’s present players, it’s the media, it’s fans, it’s whoever. Is anyone allowed to talk about Kevin Durant? Because I don’t understand it. I don’t get it.”
The “he can call me” thing from Stephen A. is always funny to me, because it implies that only he is allowed to talk about people in front of a microphone and if they want to discuss him and his commentary they should do it privately. His final point is probably his strongest, as he notes that Durant has bristled at comments from fellow players, former greats, and all manner of media members and fans. It’s a fair point, and his use of burner accounts in the past has, in particular, left a reputation of Durant having thin skin. That said, at this point, KD happily replies to folks from main, and I think his directness in responding to people — whether it’s Barkley, Smith, or some random Twitter account — breaks down the wall that typically exists in the athlete-critic relationship.
Most athletes either ignore it or internalize it for motivation, but rarely do they so regularly respond and push back on it directly. Athletes love to prove doubters or haters wrong, but they typically throw everyone into one bucket and respond generally. Durant, meanwhile, takes a very different approach by responding directly and asking for critics to elaborate or explain their reasoning further. That tends to throw folks off, including Smith. There is certainly fair criticism to be made about Durant, but I also don’t think it’s unreasonable for him to push back if he doesn’t believe it.