Kevin Durant called out by fellow NBA player over Olympics diss
Jul 28, 2024; Villeneuve-d’Ascq, France; United States guard Kevin Durant (7) after a game against Serbia during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Stade Pierre-Mauroy. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
Kevin Durant officially has beef with a player on one of his former teams.
Brooklyn Nets guard Dennis Schroder called out the Phoenix Suns star Durant during a Twitch stream this week. Schroder, who plays for his native Germany on the national team level, had made some comments during the Paris Olympics about the supposed differences between Team USA and the national teams in Europe. He said European play had “no entertainment” but rather had “straight IQ basketball” and “straight coaching.”
Dennis Schroder: "European basketball is no entertainment, it's straight IQ basketball. Straight coaching. Really really high-IQ players who know how to play the game. Of course, the NBA is the best league in the world, but Europeans are coming for sure.”
— Donatas Urbonas (@Urbodo) August 10, 2024
Durant was apparently one player on Team USA who interpreted those comments as a diss. After the United States went on to win the gold at the Olympics, Durant posted a picture of himself and his teammates with their medals. He also included the caption “ENTERTAINMENT & IQ.”
ENTERTAINMENT & IQ pic.twitter.com/2e9dopdrJi
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) August 11, 2024
On his Twitch stream, Schroder fired back at Durant’s obvious dig at his past comments.
“After they won, Kevin Durant tweet[ed] ‘High IQ and entertainment,'” said Schroder. “For me, that’s just being weak. You’re that type of star, and you have to say something to a person like me? Who [did] not even mean it to be negative. Just what I’d seen from both sides.
“I didn’t appreciate it,” added Schroder. “I don’t care. But at the end of the day, that tweet or whatever he posted was because of me … I respect all of those guys. But to say that tells me how weak he is as a person. It is what it is. Not everybody is strong. Not everybody is in a good place.”
Schroder’s overall point here is probably correct. Team USA relies more so on mashing together superstar power whereas European teams tend to focus on building team chemistry over a period of years amongst players who have less name recognition but a strong feel for the game with one another. While the U.S. strategy has resulted in five straight Olympic gold medals, it seems pretty obvious that the rest of the world is beginning to catch up.
Still, it clearly does not take a lot to get under Durant’s skin. As he has done for many years now, Durant also got petty with a fan on social media after Team USA won the gold medal.