Nets star Kevin Durant has seemed to stand with teammate and friend Kyrie Irving throughout Irving's polarizing moments in recent seasons, and he did so again on Friday -- before issuing a clarification.
Asked by reporters about Irving's suspension for promoting an anti-Semitic documentary, Durant initially declined to "judge anyone" and said he wished the Nets had "kept quiet" about the episode.
After swift backlash on social media, Durant took to Twitter to say he doesn't "condone hate speech or anti-Semitism."
Durant's initial response was in keeping with previous comments on the situation.
On Saturday, Durant said Irving's controversial social media post and subsequent refusal to apologize weren't a distraction for Nets players, and that it only impacted the media and "everybody outside the locker room:"
Nick Friedell: "Do you think anything that's gone on with Kyrie recently with what he posted and backlash he's faced from it has impacted the group at all?"
— 𝙏𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙞𝙣’ 𝙉𝘽𝘼 (@_Talkin_NBA) October 30, 2022
Kevin Durant: "Absolutely not. Only impacted you guys and everybody outside the locker room." pic.twitter.com/TZM0Q0zmIN
While Durant's clarification was certainly welcomed, for some journalists and fans the damage was already done.
Kevin Durant will literally shit talk ANYTHING on the internet but when his friend is an antisemite now he wants to be quiet and pretend the big bad media is being mean to Kyrie. what a coward https://t.co/Xun2NSkVyF
— Tyler Conway (@jtylerconway) November 4, 2022
kevin durant says the nets organization could have "kept quiet" about kyrie irving publicizing a film full of antisemitic conspiracy theories https://t.co/AhWXinZdve
— James Herbert (@outsidethenba) November 4, 2022
Kevin Durant wanted the team to shut up about hate speech and dribble? https://t.co/itGcodbvGM
— Pascal Propaganda (@PascalFanClub) November 4, 2022
Every day we give Kevin Durant a fair chance to not sound like a complete dickhead and every time he turns into Kevin from the office trying to carry the chili.
— mike mulloy: give me $400,000 now. (@handsomeadult) November 4, 2022
For Durant, it seems his loyalty to Irving is once again becoming a liability.
Last season, Durant declined to criticize or publicly call out Irving over his refusal to get vaccinated, which made him ineligible to play in Nets home games. Team brass then decided against allowing Irving to play in road games so as to avoid a potentially awkward situation.
Then, when Nets GM Sean Marks called for greater accountability from the team's stars at season's end -- a comment presumably aimed specifically at Irving -- Durant reportedly bristled at the implication and demanded a trade.
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