Kevin Durant Reacts to Kyrie Irving's Suspension
In this story:
In the wake of the Brooklyn Nets handing down at least a five-game suspension without pay to Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant spoke at the Nets shootout in Washington D.C.
“It’s an unfortunate situation for people that are impacted by this situation. It just sucks all around for everybody. Hopefully we can move past it,” Durant told reporters in Washington D.C. “That’s just the way of the NBA now. Media, so many outlets now and their stories hit pretty fast now. That’s where all the chaos is coming from, from everybody’s opinions. Everybody has an opinion on this situation and we’re hearing it nonstop.
“But once the balls start bouncing and we get into practice none of that stuff seeps into the gym. So that’s the cool part about being in the league. But once you step off the court, everyone got the microphones out and the microscopes looking at you asking you what you feel about it. That’s been difficult. But the game is the constant for us.”
Durant, who is a student of the game and is well-known for his extreme passion to hooping and focus on basketball, took to Twitter shortly after the team's shootaround to confirm he was promoting basketball. He made it clear that he doesn't condone anti-Semitism or any hate speech.
“Just wanna clarify the statements I made at shootaround, I see some people are confused,” Durant tweeted. “I don’t condone hate speech or anti-Semitism, I’m about spreading love always. Our game Unites [sic] people and I wanna make sure that’s at the forefront.”
When asked if Irving's suspension was fair handling, Durant stated he trusts and fully agrees, adding he trusts the organization “to do what’s right.”
During Friday morning's shootaround ahead of the contest against the Washington Wizards, Durant was asked how he thought Irving commanded himself throughout the week - a week that had Irving conduct two disgruntled exchanges with the media; two exchanges filled with refused remorse until after being suspended Thursday night.
“I ain’t hear to judge nobody or talk down on nobody for how they feel, their views or anything, it’s just…I just didn’t like anything that went on. I feel like it was all unnecessary,” Durant said. “I felt like we could have just kept playing basketball and kept quiet as an organization. I just don’t like none of it.”
