Kevin Durant, in perhaps the lasting moment of the Nets’ Game 2 blowout of the Bucks, crossed over Giannis Antetokounmpo and scored on the former Defensive Player of the Year while drawing a foul.
Had Durant been eying that matchup?
Jay Williams – who hosted Durant’s web show, “The Boardroom” and once seemed close to the superstar – said so:
Williams on ESPN:
I’ll tell you a story real quick. A couple years ago, we’re at a holiday party for KD’s business. OK? And we’re all there. Everybody’s hanging out. And I went up on TV on “Get Up” that day and said, “Giannis was destroying people in the league.” And I said, “You know what? When I think about Giannis, it’s like AD and Kevin Durant had a baby, to a degree. Size, length. I’m not saying skill set. I’m just saying the way he played.” Right? Gave the breakdown. Kevin Durant comes up to me at the club and says, “Yo, don’t you ever compare me to Giannis again. Don’t you ever do that.” I was like, “Kev, what are you talking about? Calm down. First off, I’m talking about scenarios, stylistically, the way you guys play a little bit, size, length.” He’s like, “Nah, don’t ever compare that dude to me. Don’t do that.” I felt that in his voice at that moment.
Durant emphatically denied that, commenting on this Instagram post:
This is a [F***in] lie. Jay Williams can NEVER speak for me, ever
https://www.instagram.com/p/CP3E5klAlaX/
Durant also tweeted:
Mans will do anything to advance their careers in this media [s***], 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 [s***]. I don’t even talk like that
I appreciate when players set the record straight. But unlike Shannon Sharpe’s obviously fake quote from Durant, it’s not totally clear what’s true here.
It’d be very strange if Williams made up this story. It’d also be at least a little surprising if Durant so forcefully refuted this story if it were accurate.
For what it’s worth, Durant has been HIGHLY complimentary of Antetokounmpo publicly:
“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 just keeps rifting with media members he once had good relationships with. He clearly doesn’t want to escalate a feud with Antetokounmpo, though.
But if you want a Nets player to rip Antetokounmpo, James Harden has you covered.
