Kevin Durant slipped over the weekend when the Warriors star accidentally tweeted from his personal account in the third person, defending himself against a critic. The fallout led to the discovery of an Instagram account he was using privately to slam critics in comment sections. Now he’s speaking about it.
Kevin Durant apologizes for fighting with critics on social media using fake accounts
This was all so weird.
James Dator has been covering a wide range of sports for SB Nation for over a decade, with a special focus on the NFL.
On Tuesday Durant apologized at Tech Crunch in San Francisco, saying he “happened to take it a little too far,” when he criticized the Thunder and coach Billy Donovan. Durant went on to say that his tweets were “childish” and “idiotic.”
“I played a little too much, and that (expletive) really hurt me,” Durant told USA TODAY Sports. “To know that I affected Billy Donovan and the Thunder – like I love those people and I don’t never (want to hurt them).”
Durant also told USA Today that he hadn’t slept in two days and two nights, and that he hadn’t eaten because he was so mad at himself. He’s extremely serious about what he’s done, and USA Today spoke to family members and associates who ranked this among the most stressful situations of his career including his free agency decision and 2012 Finals loss to the Heat.
He has not tweeted about the incident since it happened, but this is his first public acknowledgement since Sunday.
Issues began when a user believed Durant was running multiple accounts to defend himself in a series of tweets where he ripped his former team, all in the third person — as if someone besides Durant was tweeting.
Initially the sports world reacted by assuming an assistant or employee accidentally sent the tweets, but this unfolded further with the discovery of “quiresultan,” a private (now deleted) Instagram account that Durant used to get into arguments with critics.
Durant said of that account:
“I had another Instagram account but that’s just for friends and family, I wouldn’t say I was using that to clapback at anybody.”
However, despite claiming he didn’t use “quiresultan” to clapback at critics, the evidence shows the contrary. There are extensive examples of him arguing using the name, even with kids.
At this point the story is beyond absurd. Durant has apologized for speaking out against the Thunder, but we don’t have an explanation behind why his account tweeted as if it wasn’t Durant — outside of the assumption that he accidentally tweeted with his real account, instead of a fake one. Furthermore, we don’t have acknowledgement that he used his private Instagram account to argue with fans who didn’t know it was Kevin Durant speaking to them.
Time will tell whether this incident has changed anything.
