For the season, Kevin Durant is averaging 29.7 points, 7.9 rebounds, 5.9 assists and zero chill. With Durant among 10 Nets currently in the league’s health and safety protocol (their game Tuesday against Washington has already been postponed), the All-Star forward is looking for ways to kill time, tweeting about any and everything including this widely-circulated clip of a youth player dribbling behind his back.
Durant’s ruthless criticism, though consistent with his usual brand of Twitter anarchy, came off as unnecessarily harsh with many reminding him these are just kids.
Not one to sugarcoat things, Durant stood by his earlier assessment, admonishing Jayden Moore, a 5’10” eighth-grader from Minneapolis, for showboating on a play that should have been blown dead for double-dribbling. Goofing around on the playground is one thing, but doing it in an actual game, for Durant at least, is a bridge too far.
The advent of social media has been a double-edged sword for the Tik-Tok generation, allowing aspiring stars like Moore to build an audience and grow their brand, but often at the expense of basic fundamentals. Moore is clearly a skilled ballhandler with a promising hoops future—he’s already playing on the varsity team at his local high school. But greatness, as Durant was trying to convey (though, admittedly, he could have struck a gentler tone), isn’t measured by retweets or how many Instagram followers you have. It’s about playing the right way and making your teammates better, not using every dribble as a chance to go viral.
UPDATE: Moore responded Monday, thanking Durant for his constructive criticism while acknowledging the footage shown was actually from two years ago.
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