Kevin Durant’s reign as the NBA’s biggest online superstar continues for another year.
While he is one of the most talented scorers the game has ever seen, criticism still lands on his desk, whether from fans, media members or his peers. After winning his fourth Olympic gold medal with Team USA, Durant celebrated with a mail on X (formerly Twitter) that said “ENTERTAINMENT AND INTELLECTUAL BALANCE.”
The caption, which accompanied the USA team’s celebratory photo, was not as casual as it might initially seem. It was actually Durant’s response to perceived criticism from German guard Dennis Schröder, who is preparing for his 12th NBA season.
Naturally, Schröder responded when he caught wind of Durant’s recent post. Now, the two are officially locked in a war of words. Here’s what Schröder said to spark Durant’s social media post and what the Nets point guard had to say in response to the superstar.
Kevin Durant and Dennis Schröder’s conflict explained
During the Olympics, Schröder took a firm stance on the difference between European basketball and NBA basketball.
“European basketball is no entertainment,” says Schröder saying“It’s pure IQ basketball, with a pure coach and players with very, very high IQs who know how to play the game.
“I mean Serbia, Greece, Spain, France, Germany. I mean, there are a lot of teams that know how to play, that are athletic and I think there are a lot of people from Europe in the NBA that are making noise… Of course, the NBA is the best league in the world, but the Europeans will come for sure.”
Dennis Schroder explains why the European style of basketball provides a significant advantage in challenging Team USA:
“European basketball is not entertainment, it is a basketball of pure intelligence, pure teaching.” ?️ #Paris2024 image.twitter.com/9qTO58DFSx
—BasketNews (@BasketNews_com) August 10, 2024
During his statement, Schröder said he was trying to be careful with his words, as he wasn’t trying to take anything away from the NBA. But in addition to being an 11-year NBA veteran, Schröder is a proud European and led Germany to a FIBA Basketball World Cup championship in 2023.
Regardless of his intentions, Schröder’s statement resulted in Durant’s celebratory run at X, which included a direct mention of Schröder’s words and a Cited publication of Team USA members during their respective time playing AAU basketball.
ENTERTAINMENT AND COE image.twitter.com/2e9dopdrJi
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) August 11, 2024
The posts were not-so-subtle responses to Schröder and detractors of the youth basketball development process in the United States.
Days after Durant’s comment about X, Schröder responded, reaffirming that he had not intended to be disrespectful with his comments before saying that Durant was “being weak” in his decision to post what he did.
“They won and Kevin Durant tweets ‘High IQ and entertainment,'” Schröder said. saying“To me, that’s just being weak. You’re that kind of star and you have to say something to a person like me that wasn’t even meant to be negative. It was just what I saw from both sides.
“I didn’t appreciate it. At the end of the day I don’t care, but that tweet he posted was about me. I never meant to say anything negative, I respect all those guys, but saying that tells me how weak he is as a person.
“It is what it is, not everyone is strong, not everyone is in a good place.”
While Schröder’s response isn’t exactly consistent with him not caring in the end, he made it clear from the start that his statement wasn’t meant to be taken as a negative. Knowing Durant, though, he won’t take kindly to being called weak.
With that in mind, you might want to mark your calendar for Nov. 27, which is when Schröder and the Nets are scheduled to visit Durant’s Suns.
