As Kevin Durant came out onto the floor for pregame warmups, a Mavs fan hollered out “b!tc#”. Durant turned around and engaged in an extended conversation with the fans, which eventually led AAC security to tell them they had to leave. Durant noticed that, and came back over…
"We're entertainers to them instead of real people": Kevin Durant laments abuse from fans during warm-up
NBASaturday, 24 February 2024 at 14:00
The Phoenix Suns’ star forward Kevin Durant reacted to abusive
chants from the Dallas Mavericks fans and claimed that it was not ‘that big of
a deal’.
The 35-year-old, during the warm-up ahead of the match
against the Mavs, was greeted by the fans with chants of ‘b***h’.
Durant was later quoted in a report where he stated that the
behaviour showed how people sitting in the stands see the players as just ‘entertainers’
and not ‘real people’.
"It wasn't that big of a deal,” he said. “It's like,
they don't look at us as humans sometimes. So when you get a chance to let a
person know how you feel real quick, then they'll backtrack. See, we're
animals, we're circus acts, we're entertainers to them instead of real people.
"I can't go do nothing to you. It's going to mess up
everything that I've built up. There are better ways to talk to people.
“There are better ways to try to get attention, there are
better ways to indulge in a conversation with somebody besides trying to get a
reaction out of them by calling them a b----. I could've easily gotten them
kicked out and maybe banned them for a few weeks, but I'd rather have them
watch me play.
"My thing was like, even though you called me a b----
as I'm running out with my back turned, people usually do that, call me coward,
b---- with my back turned, and it wasn't too many people around.
I know you don't mean that and I'm not going to get you
kicked out because you paid your money for these tickets, you had a couple of
drinks and I understand how people get, but it's better ways to try to get my
attention and talk to me other than call me a b---- out my name because you're
protected in these arenas."
Despite the abuse, Durant
was the star performer for the side as he ended up registering 28 points to go
with 11 rebounds and eight assists.
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