Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant had some harsh words for the media during the All-Star weekend, but he had a different tune on Tuesday. He also tried to clarify the comments, which some perceived as a shot at his teammates, he made in a recent GQ article.
Durant told reporters they "really don't know s---" on Saturday when asked about the job security of his coach, Scott Brooks. The comments seemed out of character for Durant, and on Tuesday he expressed regret about having made them.
"Let's be real. Let's look at the whole thing," Durant said, via ESPN. "I've been in the league eight years. The media and myself have had a great relationship for eight years. And I said something, two days in a row I said something. Am I allowed to be upset one time? Am I allowed to be mad? Am I human? Do you look at me that way? Do you look at me as if I can't say nothing wrong? We had great communication for eight years, and it's still that way. ...
"I had a moment. Everybody in life has moments. You had one for sure before, but it's not broadcasted like mine. I was more so trying to take up for my teammates, my coach and other guys in the league that gets scrutinized and I don't like. Maybe I should shut up about it. I had one moment."
He went on to say what really made him made was a comment about him biting the hand that feeds, which ESPN pundit Skip Bayless made Monday on his "First Take" show. Durant subsequently appeared to respond to Bayless's comment with a post on Instagram.
Durant also took time on Tuesday to clarify what he said about his teammates in a recent GQ piece. In the article, the reigning MVP said: "Obviously our players aren't as good as, you know, than they were before." He insisted, though, it wasn't a shot at his current teammates.
"I think my words were misinterpreted a little bit," he said. "I read that this morning and felt bad, but I was just talking in terms of how the public views our team, like how everybody views us. Everybody talks about the James Harden trade to this day. Obviously, in everybody else's eyes we don't have a player that's a three-time All-Star, leading scorer in the league, you know what I'm saying, so we can't do nothing about that but play. That's what I meant about it. I never wanted to slight my teammates or anybody here, but just from the outside looking in, that's how people view us. That we got worse. But we can't control that. That's what really I was trying to say, so I'm sorry if my words got misinterpreted, but I never want to slight my teammates."
Seemingly to preempt any more misinterpretations, especially ones that could give fodder for speculation about what he will do in 2016, Durant said losing Harden wouldn't have any implications on his free agency decision and he doesn't resent the front office for it.
"Do I resent the organization? Nah. Hell nah. Not at all," he said. "Let''s look at it this way: We won 60 games the year he was gone, we won 59 the next year. Had a few injuries, you never know what would have happened if that didn't happen. So not at all. Plus they signed me to a max deal."
The Thunder (28-25) are scratching and crawling their way back into playoff contention and are presently half a game behind No. 8 Phoenix. They host Memphis on Thursday.
