Basketball player Kevin Durant and American actor Michael Rapaport – Sipa / AP
This is the soap opera that agitates the NBA in recent days. Brooklyn star Kevin Durant was fined $ 50,000 for homophobic slurs directed at actor / sports columnist Michael Rapaport in a private Instagram conversation. While the messages are unusually violent – and include threats – many commentators believe that the actor, host of a successful podcast, crossed the red line by posting a private exchange, especially since he seems to have deleted some of his messages.
I receive threats and disgusting messages DAILY, but never in my wildest dreams did I think @ KDTrey5 would be among them. The 🐍 himself is now threatening me, bringing up my wife and wants to fight. This is supposed to be America’s sweetheart right? #ImDaRealMVP pic.twitter.com/l1VQfGMMRF
– MichaelRapaport (@MichaelRapaport) March 30, 2021
The NBA, which recently suspended former Miami player Meyers Leonard for an anti-Semitic insult, this time stuck to a financial penalty, accusing Durant of “using offensive and derogatory language on social networks” and considering that the player had “admitted that his actions were inappropriate”.
The day before, “KD” had apologized but he seemed especially to regret that the public had discovered another face: “I’m sorry that people saw this language that I used. It’s not really what I want people to see and hear from me, but I hope to be able to ignore it and return to the floor, “he blurted out at a virtual press conference.
Discussions with the Nets coach
Two days earlier, Rapaport had made public the content of some of their exchanges, posting screenshots on his Twitter account, with this message as an introduction: “I receive threats and disgusting messages DAILY, but never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that (Durant) would be one of them. The Serpent itself threatens me now, evokes my wife and wants to fight. He’s supposed to be America’s darling, right? “.
We can read a torrent of violent insults, most of them homophobic, uttered by Durant who at one point meets Rapaport in the street to fight or even at his home. The latter, in the excerpts unveiled, also uses a homophobic term.
Right after this tweet, Durant responded on the same social network, trying to play down. “Mike and I regularly talk about things even crazier than that and today he is furious:… sorry Mike, damn !!” he wrote before further apologies formulated on Instagram. Nets coach Steve Nash, questioned on the subject, assured that the club had started internal discussions with the player, without revealing the content.
The argument between Durant and Rapaport dates back to the end of December, when the latter reacted to the brief interview with the Nets winger after a game, contenting himself with answering questions with yes or no. This had also aroused mockery on the set from the star consultants Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal. Durant has been absent from the courts since mid-February, due to a hamstring injury.