Kevin Durant has never been someone who is shy about defending himself on social media.
So when a post went up on Instagram asking if the Phoenix Suns star had “checked out” and highlighted his apparent poor defensive effort against the Dallas Mavericks on Christmas, Durant stepped into the comments section to fire back.
In a since-deleted comment that was screencapped by fans, Durant took aim at a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski alleging that he is frustrated in Phoenix.
“Woj says somebody else ‘feels’ that I’m frustrated and it turned into me being mentally checked out. This s— crazy, these people can flat out lie on my name and make s— up and you people will believe it but when my teammates n coaches speak on how I am as a teammate, u ignore it lol,” Durant wrote.
Kevin Durant has responded to the Woj report via IG.
Does this calm any concerns you had about KD? pic.twitter.com/rcqRyl1EK5
— PHNX Suns (@PHNX_Suns) December 27, 2023
Wojnarowski’s report on Durant came during the day on Christmas, hours before the Suns lost to the Mavericks to fall to 14-14 on the season.
“They can feel the frustration with Durant,” Wojnarowski said,” via Sports Illustrated. “Part of that, certainly, is the missed games from Brad Beal. This team was built around those three stars, the underwhelming supporting cast that comes from those massive trades for Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal that really gutted the organization.”
Durant went on to score only 16 points on 4-of-11 shooting with six turnovers against Dallas, though he did add eight rebounds and seven assists.