Thunder superstar Kevin Durant’s odd crusade against the media continued Monday when he was asked about Kobe Bryant announcing his retirement. Durant talked a bit about how Bryant influenced his career before haranguing the basketball media’s coverage of Bryant’s struggles in 2015.
“I’ve been disappointed this year because you guys (media) treated him like s**t. He’s a legend and all I hear is about how bad he’s playing, how bad he’s shooting, time for him to hang it up. You guys treated one of our legends like s**t and I didn’t really like it,” Durant said.
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Durant did not clue in reporters on how they should have covered Bryant, who is currently averaging more shot attempts (16.9) than points (15.5) this season, shooting a career-worst 30.5 percent from the field, and 20.2 percent from 3-point range on 6.8 attempts. Bryant is logging 31.1 minutes a night with these numbers, and playing in fourth quarters of blowouts while D’Angelo Russell, the No. 2 pick in this year’s draft, languishes on the bench gaining zero game experience.
“Hopefully now you can start being nice to him now that he decided to retire after this year. It was sad the way he was getting treated,” Durant added, failing to understand the media’s role in covering the sport.
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While Bryant is undeniably one of the greatest basketball players ever, the media has been reporting on his struggles accurately. There is no obligation for reporters to “be nice” to players simply because they have played well in the past, much like players aren’t obligated to provide helpful answers to reporters’ questions. Durant’s teammate Russell Westbrook has proven that.
Durant’s ire toward the media may be rooted in that one of Bryant’s harshest critics of late has been ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith, who said Bryant should retire immediately.
Durant and Smith had it out through the airwaves before the season began over Smith reporting that Durant would join the Lakers this offseason if he left Oklahoma City. That feud got a little ugly, and involved Smith issuing a veiled threat on air, before it simmered down.
Now…it appears Smith and KD are all good.
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