Houston Rockets guard Fred VanVleet spoke out on Kevin Durant’s burner accounts.
On one of his more recent podcast episodes, Unguarded, VanVleet came to the defense of Durant and his burner accounts, praising him for his authenticity.
“You know the lies is always more appealing than the truth anyway,” VanVleet said. “You know what I’m saying? That s— is about entertainment at the end of the day.
“We had some weird things this year. And this is one thing that I didn’t deal with Kawhi. Because KD is the other superstar that I played with, which was Kawhi. But the media didn’t bother Kawhi. And I think it’s because his personality, right? You know he don’t give a f— about that s—. And I think that the gift and the curse with KD is that he’s so open and he’s so authentic and he’s so approachable and he’s so him that it leaves room for the f—ing clowns to jump in and add they own twist on the s— and then if he don’t come out and directly say no or go against that, which is what they want.
“There just so much room for like clickbait farming and s— like that when it comes to him.”
This past season, it reached new heights when screenshots from a leaked group chat surfaced. The screenshots linked Durant to an X handle “@gethigher77” account that allegedly featured Durant trash-talking former teammates and harshly criticizing star Rockets teammates Alperen Şengün and Jabari Smith Jr.
“Your franchise player can’t shoot or defend. That’s a wayyyyyyy bigger issue than my turnovers,” Durant allegedly said in reference to Alperen Sengun. He also called out Jabari Smith Jr., allegedly writing, “I can’t trust Jabari [Smith] to make a f— shot or get a stop … He’s lowkey r—d.”
Rockets face big questions after early playoff exit
Durant completed his first season in Houston, which was a rather disappointing one. The Rockets were eliminated by the shorthanded Lakers in the first round of the playoffs.
The 37-year-old only played in one game that series, which went six games.
The focus in Houston now shifts to how they can get back to becoming a top team in the West, and whether or not Durant will be part of the team.