Not everything on the Internet is true. Shannon Sharpe found this out the hard way.
The former NFL player and co-host, along with Skip Bayless, of FS1’s “Undisputed” was duped by a fake quote surfacing social media of Kevin Durant arguing that he is truly the GOAT over LeBron James because Durant beat him twice in the NBA Finals.
“People try to discredit my rings, but honestly I feel like they’re the most valuable of our era,” the quote, which originally surfaced from an unverified Nets fan Twitter account, read. “People argue [LeBron] is the GOAT, but if I beat him in back-to-back finals, then what does that make me?”
Sharpe ripped Durant on Monday’s show despite the quote being unverified and false.
“Kevin Durant thought by winning the title, people would regard him universally as the best player in the NBA,” he said. “Better than even LeBron James. But very few people were willing to go there. And then he’s like…Because he said it. ‘If LeBron James is the GOAT, I beat the GOAT twice, and hit the shot in his building. What does that make me?’”
Durant saw this clip and fired back at Sharpe on Twitter Monday night, calling him a “drunk uncle out here lying again.”
On Tuesday morning, Sharpe responded to a fan calling him out, but took the opportunity to direct more criticism toward Durant, which Durant replied to asking why he won’t reply to him.
Durant continued to go after Sharpe, who wanted no part of a Twitter feud with the Nets star and eventually resulted in Sharpe blocking Durant.
The original segment Sharpe and Bayless were discussing stemmed from Durant’s recent, actual quotes about how winning championships changed his perspective on why he plays the game.
Durant said, in an interview with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols, that it was about his “development” rather than the titles.
Sharpe used the fake quote as a response to dispute this notion, but even after being called out refused to acknowledge his mistake and instead tried to back up his opinion with other evidence.
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