The feud between Kevin Durant and Michael Rapaport that started in social media direct messages has blown up since Rapaport took it public, and in a Q&A with the New York Post published Saturday, Rapaport acknowledged that he didn't do anything different in that situation than he would if it was anyone but Durant.
"I always make public the threatening and racist and anti-Semitic things that people send me. I say, 'Look at so and so. Look at what he said,'" Rapaport told The Post's Michael Kaplan. "At that moment, he wasn't Kevin Durant the basketball player, he wasn't even a person to me. I didn't like what he said, and I did what I've done hundreds of times on social media."
Rapoport said he hasn't spoken to Durant about it and "I don't imagine I will," clarifying that the two are not, and never have been, friends. And, while he doesn't regret going public, he does wish it never happened, even though he called himself the "Reggie Jackson of disruption."
"It brought me the most negative attention I've ever had. It infuriated my wife, who told me that I need to behave. I wish I just told him to (expletive) and blocked him," Rapaport said. "Usually this kind of behavior works in my favor. I'm like the Reggie Jackson of disruption. There are a few games where you strike out. But the ball goes out of the park more times than not."
Rapaport made a teary apology for the incident on television, and despite all the kerfuffle, he will still go to Nets games when he moves back to New York from Los Angeles later this year – but he noted he'll have to pay, as he has been "banned from NBA freebies" – in part because of Durant's old team.
"In 2017, during Durant's first season with the Warriors, they played against the Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. I brought a broom to game three, to prepare Cavaliers fans for seeing their team swept in the next game," Rapoport said. "By the time I got to my courtside seat, I received a call from my connection with the NBA. He asked what I was doing. It's alleged that LeBron James and his camp were upset with the broom. Since then I haven't gotten a free ticket."
A response Rapoport called "f-ing ridiculous."
"No apology from me; it's embarrassing that somebody would be offended," he said. "I came as a fan, and I was just creative enough to bring it for game three instead of four."
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