Nets star Kevin Durant sent homophobic and misogynistic private messages to actor Michael Rapaport, according to screenshots Rapaport posted (warning: link contains homophobic, misogynistic and profane language).
SNY:
Kevin Durant on his social media messages that were recently made public:
— Nets Videos (@SNYNets) April 1, 2021
"I'm sorry that people seen that language I used, that's not really what I want people to hear and see from me" pic.twitter.com/UIPRuPdH3B
Durant:
Malika Andrews of ESPN:
Steve Nash said that the organization has had internal discussions about profanity-ridden exchange -- which included misogynistic comments -- that Kevin Durant had with Michael Rapaport that was posted on social media. Nash declined to share specifics of the conversation.
— Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews) April 1, 2021
The NBA has repeatedly punished players for their social-media activity. Most of those incidents involved a player posting something for widespread consumption.
Durant clearly intended his words to remain private.
However, in 2012, the NBA fined Knicks big Amar’e Stoudemire (who’s now a Nets assistant coach) for using a homophobic slur in a direct message to a fan.
But the situations aren’t identical. Unlike Stoudemire, who seemingly didn’t know the fan he messaged, Durant and Rapaport had a preexisting relationship.
We don’t know the terms of that relationship. Durant said he and Rapaport “talk CRAZIER than this on the regular.”
Now that Durant’s messages became public without full context, he did well to apologize and not stand by the hateful words.