Kevin Durant racked up 23 points (on just 13 shots), nine assists, eight rebounds and three steals in Wednesday night's Warriors rout of the Spurs. He did not commit a single turnover.
But nobody will remember how KD performed on the court because of what happened during his postgame press conference.
The reigning two-time NBA Finals MVP unloaded on the media (specifically Ethan Strauss of The Athletic) for all of the speculation about his pending free agency.
When Mark Medina of the Bay Area News Group tweeted a video snippet of Durant's comments, Twitter user @BryanFonsecaNY quote tweeted: "I wonder, does @JaredDudley619 have some perspective on this?"
The veteran Brooklyn Nets forward saw the message and offered his thoughts.
What he expect... he hasn't committed to the warriors and everybody has opened up cap space for him.. 🤷🏽♂️ https://t.co/tlaL5E2F4F— Jared Dudley (@JaredDudley619) February 7, 2019
Sports
Dudley is correct in saying Durant hasn't committed long term to Golden State. He signed another "1+1" contract in July to keep his options open this summer, and he hasn't said anything publicly to make people believe he wants to play for the Warriors beyond this season.
The reality is Durant doesn't owe anybody anything at this point because he has every right to leave for another franchise if that's what he decides to do. He wants to play this season out, try to win a third consecutive NBA championship, assess where his mind and heart are at, and then make a decision on his future. He deserves that plan of action.
But on the flip side, NBA free agency doesn't truly begin on July 1, as teams constantly plot and look to the future months and even years in advance. And as Dudley said, there are teams (not "everybody") that have made the necessary moves to put themselves in position to land Durant.
[RELATED: Klay believes Warriors are handling KD rumors well]
We live in a 24-hour news cycle, and social media has changed everything. Various media members are doing their jobs by collecting intel and reporting on what they gather. As a result, the NBA is as popular as it's ever been, and the league is in an incredible place financially.
Discussing Durant's future and/or what might happen in July is just a part of the deal at this point. And for better or worse, it doesn't seem like the noise will stop anytime soon.
Drew Shiller is the co-host of Warriors Outsiders. Follow him on Twitter @DrewShiller
