Loras College PSY 244: Social Psychology

Kevin Durant: Villain or Not?

Adapted from a case by Danny O’Farrell (’19)

In the summer of 2016, there was a massive stir in the basketball world as Kevin Durant
made the decision to join San Francisco’s Golden State Warriors. Durant had previously spent
nine years with the Oklahoma City Thunder as arguably their best
player and perhaps the second best player in the world. Not only was
Durant a player there but he gave back to the community. When a
tornado ripped his city apart in 2013 he donated one million dollars
to help aid the community. He also participated in the rebuild efforts,
because it was his home too. When he decided to leave Oklahoma
City the whole city felt betrayed.
Durant explained that his reason for leaving was a desire to
grow as a player and as a person. The Golden State Warriors were
known for their culture of team chemistry and harmony. They were
seen as a the model for what a cohesive team was supposed to be. Durant believed he was about
to join a basketball family where he didn’t have to carry all the weight that he had to carry on the
Thunder.
However, almost everyone in the basketball world believed his decision was about
wanting to win a championship. The Oklahoma City Thunder had lost to the Golden State
Warriors in the playoffs the season before Durant chose to leave. The basketball world saw this
as a cowardly move.
People also saw Kevin as a hypocrite because six years earlier he had posted tweets
bashing people who wanted to create “Super Teams” rather than build and develop teams over
time. But the Warriors were the definition of a Super Team. They had just broken the regular
season record for wins in a season. They already had All Star players on their roster. So the “best
player” had now agreed to join the strongest team.
Oklahoma City fans were split on whether to hate Durant or thank him for all he did for
their team. Some fans burned their Durant jerseys while some fans proceeded to defend Durant’s
honor. Media analysts were blunt and critical of Durant.
Durant has gone on the record saying that the two weeks after his decision were the
hardest he had ever gone through. Before leaving Oklahoma City, Kevin Durant was seen as a
soft-spoken man who never ran into trouble with the media. But after making his decision to
leave, his presence changed. In interviews, he used profanity when describing other players and
reporters. As a player, he talked more smack on the court than he had ever done before. Soon, he
was no longer even on speaking terms with his former teammates and friends from Oklahoma
City.
In his first season with the Golden State Warriors, the team went on to win the NBA
Finals with ease, only losing one game during the playoff series. Durant won the Finals MVP.
Loras College PSY 244: Social Psychology

Kevin Durant was seemingly redeemed for his previous actions by his dominance on the court.
The controversy over his departure from Oklahoma City seemed to be over.
Then, the following summer Durant got himself into trouble using Twitter. People often
directed tweets at Durant asking him to justify leaving the Oklahoma City Thunder. Kevin
Durant had a reputation for sometimes replying to these kinds of questions reasonably and other
times lashing out. One night when Durant received a tweet again questioning his actions, his
replies bashed his former teammates and his former coach. People then discovered that Durant
had created fake twitter accounts to respond to critical tweets. These fake accounts appeared to
be those of average fans who wanted to defend Durant. This, in combination with his continuing
angry tweets under his own name, reinvigorated the backlash against him.
There is always a player and a team that are labeled as the villains as the NBA. This is a
marketing strategy, designed to make the competitions more exciting and engage fans. The NBA
positions certain teams as villains, some as heroes, others as underdogs. They highlight how
often teams win or lose, selectively focus on “dirty” playing strategies for some teams rather than
others, and create media personalities for players. Was Kevin Durant helping to facilitate this
“villain” persona by changing the way he acted? Or was Durant’s inability to shake off the
backlash he received on social media a sign that he regretted his decision to join the Warriors?

References
Amick, S. (2017) Remorseful Kevin Durant feels terrible about Twitter incident: ‘Disappointed
in myself’. Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com
Associated Press. (2013) Kevin Durant to donate $1 million. Retrieved from www.espn.com
FoxSports. (2016) Fans are roasting Kevin Durant for this tweet from 2010 criticizing
superteams. Retrieved from https://www.foxsports.com
Jenkins, L. (2017) ‘I’m Ready’: The Text That Started The Warriors’ Dynasty. Retrieved from
https://www.si.com
Patton, G. (2017) Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and the Golden State Warriors: The ‘soft’ villains
of the NBA. Retrieved from https://www.thenational.ae
Seo, I. (2016) Kevin Durant: Hero or Traitor? Retrieved from https://ylhsthewrangler.com