Asked about Kyrie Irving’s suspension at Friday morning’s shootaround, Kevin Durant implied that he would have preferred the Nets “kept quiet” about Irving’s promotion of an antisemitic film.
“I’m not here to judge somebody or talk down on the life or how they feel their views,” Durant said, via the New York Post. “I just didn't like anything that went on. I felt like it was all unnecessary. I felt like we could have just kept playing basketball and kept quiet as an organization.
“This is the way the NBA is now, media, so many outlets now and their stories hit pretty fast now. So that's where all the chaos is coming from. Everybody has an opinion on the situation, and we're hearing it nonstop.”
The comments opened eyes across social media, who took Durant’s comments as a suggestion that the organization should have turned the other cheek towards the backlash from Irving’s promotion of the film, as well as his repeated refusals to come out and apologize for it. But shortly after he made those comments, Durant took to Twitter to try and set the record straight.
“Just wanna clarify the statements I made at shootaround, I see some people are confused,” Durant said. “I don’t condone hate speech or anti-Semitism, I’m about spreading love always. Our game unites people and I wanna make sure that’s at the forefront.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
Follow WFAN on Social Media
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch
Listen live to WFAN:
Audacy App | Online Stream | Smart Speaker (just say ‘Play W-F-A-N’)