Kevin Durant Fires Back At People Who Say He's Not A Leader For Not Calling Out Kyrie Irving

The Brooklyn Nets have been surrounded by controversy over the past couple of years. They have been involved in certain situations that raised a lot of eyebrows around the league. Kyrie Irving has been involved in most of them, but the team has also starred in other situations that created a reputation for this squad. 

Last season, Kyrie was involved in a huge controversy surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine. Irving refused to get vaccinated, which created a lot of issues for him and the Nets. He would eventually return to the court, but fans had more animosity toward him.  

Many people called out Kevin Durant for not taking care of this situation and persuading or forcing Kyrie to get the vaccine, but KD was always polite and never intended to get into Kyrie's business, just like he's doing right now. 

Kevin Durant Fires Back At People Who Say He's Not A Leader For Not Calling Out Kyrie Irving

It's been over a year since that moment, but Durant has finally spoken about his mindset during that time. KD took a shot at those who criticized him for not being more vocal or aggressive with Kyrie, calling himself a leader and explaining his approach to that situation. 

“I’m not a leader? What the f--k does that mean?” Durant asked Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report. “A lot of people say I’m not a leader because I didn’t tell Kyrie to get vaccinated. Come on. Or I didn’t condemn Kyrie for leaving the team, going out and living his life. I’m not about to tell a grown-ass man what he can and can't do with his own life and dissect his views or how he thinks about s--t.

"We can have a conversation and exchange perspectives on how I feel about the topic and you feel about the topic, but everybody else don't need to know or hear about our conversations because we’re grown-ass men. I don't operate like that.

"I don't need to show or tell everybody what I'm doing with my teammates so y'all can pump me up and say, ‘Yeah, KD, you’re the boss, you’re the leader.’ These other [expletives] need that. I don’t. I don't come to you and say, ‘Haynes, write this story about me.’ I don't do that to nobody. But I come here and respect y'all. I talk to y'all like a real one, even after a blowout [loss]." 

Now, Irving is still involved in controversy after he shared a movie full of antisemitism on social media, getting blasted by the fans, analysts, and even Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai. The player is now working to get back to the Nets, but the journey won't be easy for him. Tsai has stated that Kyrie has a job to do before being reinstated.