ESPN’s Jay Williams responds to Durant calling him a liar

Brooklyn Nets power forward Kevin Durant (7) reacts during the first quarter of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Milwaukee Bucks. Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

ESPN’s Jay Williams responds to Kevin Durant calling him a liar

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports
By Steve DelVecchio | Last updated 6/9/21

Kevin Durant claimed that a story Jay Williams told about him on Tuesday was completely fabricated, but the ESPN analyst is standing by what he said.

Williams recalled on “Get Up!” Tuesday morning the time he once compared Durant to Giannis Antetokounmpo by saying Giannis is like a combination of Durant and Anthony Davis. Williams said Durant caught wind of the analysis and reamed him out over it at a holiday party. K.D. was apparently furious about being compared to Giannis, even if Williams didn’t mean it as any type of insult.

Durant later unloaded on Williams on both Instagram and Twitter. He said Williams’ story was a lie, among other things. You can read Durant’s posts here.

Then on Wednesday, Williams briefly addressed the situation on his “Keyshawn, JWill and Zubin” radio show. He stood by the Durant story but said he may have been wrong for sharing it.

“I stand by my story”@RealJayWilliams responds to Kevin Durant disputing the story he told on yesterday’s show pic.twitter.com/RCXq0wOv3C

— Keyshawn, JWill & Zubin (@KeyJayandZ) June 9, 2021

“I stand by my story,” Williams said. “I was probably wrong for sharing a personal story, but that’s what we do — we share personal stories. … It was meant as a compliment. There are levels to this. It was about saying how different K.D. is. It’s unfortunate that K.D. felt that way at that moment, but I wish K.D. nothing but love and all the best success.”

It seems unlikely that Williams would make up a story like that, so perhaps Durant never wanted it to get out. Williams used the supposed interaction with Durant to illustrate why he believes K.D. will have extra motivation in Brooklyn’s playoff series against the Milwaukee Bucks.

For better or worse, Durant is more active on social media than most athletes. We were reminded of that recently when he appeared to threaten a former NBA player who called out Kyrie Irving. It is hardly a surprise that he went after Williams.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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