Clapping back
In case you haven’t been paying attention, Kevin Durant is one of the greatest basketball players on the earth right now. He also can’t ignore the noise or criticism of his basketball decisions. A few nights ago KD responded to an average twitter follower. Screenshot were grabbed and conspiracy theories were formed. He has a fake account! Someone in his camp screwed that up! How many other accounts does he have!
At the annual Tech Crunch SF KD addressed the elephant in the room with the below.
“I don’t regret clapping back at anybody or talking to my fans on Twitter" – Kevin Durant at Tech Crunch addressing social media drama. pic.twitter.com/21Xw6mAmns
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) September 20, 2017
Notice what KD didn’t say? He didn’t say that he doesn’t have side accounts or that it was a mistake. He also didn’t apologize for referring to himself in the third person, which I guess isn’t that big of a sin, but still lends credence that he does have side accounts. I have not heard KD refer to himself in the third person. He doesn’t strike as that kind of a guy. And by admitting a mistake actually made me like him more. He could have claimed he was hacked.
Here we stand though, the current NBA Finals Champ speaking about his social media.
I hear you
I tweeted Metta World Peace / Ron Artest several years ago pretty frequently. It was my goal for him to respond. I said some goofy stuff, anything to be different. I finally got a response.
@fivetendavemike yes
— Metta World Peace (@MettaWorldPeace) April 30, 2011
I had another reminder that professional athletes hear the peanut gallery. As the NFL has resumed it also has brought back the routine of fans complaining about fantasy football performance directly to players. You can see a few athletes responses below. My point in this is that these athletes are just like us. They are not indestructible. Their walls are actually much lower than we thought. They look at their mentions and notifications.
I really could care less about all y'all fantasy teams, get outta my mentions with that shit. ✌🏿
— LeGarrette Blount (@LG_Blount) September 17, 2017
Dear Jameson,
This is the real world, & the @lions won. That's all that matters. Have a great night.
Sincerely,
Golden https://t.co/H80MbInHKY
— Golden Tate (@ShowtimeTate) September 19, 2017
No offense. I could care less about ur fantasy teams. This is my Real Life. Focusing on gettin healthy and gettin better. 1 day at a time.🙏🏽
— Odell Beckham Jr (@OBJ_3) September 16, 2017
$30 Million Raised
Counter to all of the clapping back and complaining, you have movements for good. Look at JJ Watt’s twitter. From a simple ask and small goal, he raised over $30 Million for the hurricane relief efforts in Houston. What an inspiring small act that generated a significant amount of money for a city.
Recovery efforts from Hurricane Harvey will be massive.
We must come together to help rebuild our communities.https://t.co/SR6DmnNbyM pic.twitter.com/iiMsG2i4dl— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) August 27, 2017
Social media has completely changed the way athletes are viewed and how we interact with them.
