Kevin Durant went so far as to call fans “clowns” in a fiery rant on X (Twitter) on Friday morning.
The Phoenix Suns star forward’s online outburst came after Team USA narrowly escaped Serbia, 95-91, in a thrilling semifinal matchup at the Paris Olympics.
After celebrating a hard-fought win to punch their ticket to the gold medal game on Saturday, Team USA came under fire from user X Josh Barnett.
“I learned a lot about American sports culture today. I bragged a lot about beating a nation of 6.6 million people at a sport they invented,” the user wrote.
“They act as if Jokic’s supporters are committing treason. We here would never do this to a small Pacific nation in rugby league. We embrace competition.”
Team USA star Kevin Durant called fans “clowns” in a bizarre and heated Twitter rant at 5 a.m.
Unhappy with the criticism, Durant shared the post with his response.
“Let’s talk about the fan culture that has been created recently,” Durant wrote. “There are a lot of huge egos that think they are the reason a sport is moving forward.
‘A lot of idolatry, a lot of hate and division based on wins and losses, a lot of disrespect towards the work that these incredible athletes are putting in, mostly from people who don’t know what it takes to be good at anything more than just talking… go do something and get out of the way.’
Users were not short on criticism for the two-time NBA champion, as another responded by writing: ‘This exact thing you’re talking about has been around since the beginning of the NBA.
“Do you think people didn’t love MJ or Bird and it wasn’t divisive back then? I hate to be that guy, but it seems like it’s a problem now because players like Giannis and Jokic get the same treatment.”
Durant left after the Americans were criticized following their victory over Serbia
Durant scored nine points and the Americans narrowly escaped Serbia, 95-91, in the semifinal.
Steph Curry led the team with 36 points while LeBron James scored 16 of his own.
The second response infuriated Slim Reaper, who went all-caps to end his next statement. Durant, never one to back down from an online confrontation, reposted the response with a harsh label for fans.
“That’s what you all clowns do,” he wrote. “You use the players to push your cheesy agendas. This is a family of brothers, which you are not a part of. Now it’s a problem because social media has you clowns walking around with your chests out like you mean something. YOU DON’T! YOUR OPINIONS DON’T MATTER.”
Prior to his angry tweets, Durant expressed his patriotism and pride in wearing the red, white and blue on the world stage.
“A lot of stupid things happen in our country, but a lot of good things happen, too,” Durant said after his nine-point performance Thursday.
Steph Curry led the Americans with 36 points. Meanwhile, Joel Embiid and LeBron James scored 19 and 16 points, respectively, to derail Nikola Jokic and company.
Team USA will take on host country France for the marbles on Saturday.