NBA superstar Kevin Durant made an appearance on a popular podcast earlier this week, and made some comments about arguably the greatest NBA player ever. As he usually does, KD took the time out of his day on Thursday to defend himself, and he logged onto Twitter/X in order to do so.
Kevin Durant Comments On MJ, Faces Backlash On Social Media
Durant was a guest star on the most recent episode of Mind The Game. The podcast is hosted by LeBron James and Steve Nash, and the three league MVPs touched on various topics from basketball strategy to overall legacy.
Mj retired 3 times. It’s okay to call that out my brother, I got 1 million dollars worth of Mj shoes in my house hahaha. It’s okay, he retired 3 times and still the goat. Ima applaud that just like Ima applaud playing 22 years at an ELITE level. I like basketball tho, you love…
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) July 10, 2025
When discussing his longevity in comparison to his peers, Durant appeared to have taken a cheap shot at Michael Jordan:
“There’s a lot of stuff you gotta ask yourself. You gotta recommit, too, to this game. I truly feel like you gotta recommit, and sign a contract with yourself every so often…like, ‘Do I still want to do this sh*t?’…Some people say ‘I wanna go play baseball’”
It is of course a reference to a portion of Jordan’s career. At the height of his powers, MJ took a nearly two-year hiatus from the game of basketball, and instead chose to play minor league baseball. He was back in the NBA after about 21 months, and wound up winning three more championships upon his return.
But according to Durant (and Jordan’s comments at the time), his love for the game of basketball was questioned when he made the decision to step away.
KD Spends The Afternoon Responding To Criticism
A section of NBA fans didn’t take well to the comments made by Durant. There was the usual rush of Twitter/X posts that called out Durant, many comparing his resume to that of the person that many consider to be the greatest player of all time.
Congrats to those people and I’ll say mj retired twice everyday for the rest of my life, what are u gonna do bout it?
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) July 10, 2025
On Thursday, Kevin Durant logged onto the social media platform and decided to respond to some of the haters. He fired off about 25 tweets in the span of eight hours, defending his comments while getting into some heated discussions about his legacy. It was not out of character for Durant, who has a penchant for social media tirades and interacting with fans on the Twitter/X platform.
Durant will be playing for the 5th team of his career when the upcoming season begins. In what was arguably the biggest move so far this off-season, the 15-time All-Star was traded from Phoenix to Houston. Along with the other roster moves that the team has made this summer, they currently have the second-best championship odds behind only the Oklahoma City Thunder.
