Nets superstar Kevin Durant has been fined $50,000 for using offensive and derogatory language on social media, the league announced in a press release today. The release added that Durant has since acknowledged his actions were inappropriate.
The incident occurred between Durant and actor Michael Rapaport, with Rapaport sharing digital screenshots of the interaction on Twitter this week.
“I receive threats and disgusting messages DAILY, but never in my wildest dreams did I think [Kevin Durant] would be among them,” Rapaport wrote in his post. “The [snake] himself is now threatening me, bringing up my wife and wants to fight. This is supposed to be America’s sweetheart right?”
Durant has since apologized for his words. The 32-year-old has only appeared in 19 games for the Nets this season, averaging 29 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists per contest. Brooklyn is hoping he could return soon from a hamstring injury suffered in February.
A $50K fine is the maximum the NBA can give to a player under the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement without the player having the ability to file a grievance.
Wtf
He should have abbreviated, yup.
Nice to see the league give Durant a slap on the wrist, while Meyers was vilified. KD wasn’t even sorry for what he said, only that he got caught and people saw it. ♂️
Right. Durants comments were much worse.
Durants comments were made privately to another person. Meyers made a racial slur (anti racism being a huge marketing push by the NBA) to the public on a live stream. Meyers is also a washout and largely a nobody compared to KD.
Wow star treatment…. 50k is nothing to him. Should make him serve suspension.
Leonard makes a tasteless joke and is jow unemployed
Durant threatens to beat a man and gets served with a 50k fine. Smh
Oh come on, Leonard wasn’t playing the rest of the year – these two scenarios aren’t even remotely similar.
Right Marty, Durants was so much worse
Meyers is unemployed because he used a racial slur while being absolutely terrible at basketball. If he was good at basketball, he would have been fined like this and that would have been it.
btw, Meyers was fined the same $50,000, so the only difference in punishment was his one week suspension, which was absolutely meaningless considering he was injured and had, even before the injury, played in a grand total of three games all season.
But he doesn’t get paid when suspended
Fair enough, but I think my main point still stands: if he was good, he’d get different treatment.
For what it’s worth, $50K is the maximum the league can fine a player under the CBA (have added this to the post). And Leonard didn’t lose pay while suspended, since he was injured and couldn’t play anyway.
He didn’t make a racial slur. Why do people keep saying that?
Well he was shooting someone in the game while saying what he said. I think this scared people, and the word lacks plausible neutrality, like say… better not ssy
Leonard never made a joke? Did you watch the clip or are you living vicariously through headlines?
While I have no dog in the fight, I personally don’t like rapaport (who tries desperately to identify as a minority) but this altercation highlights why it’s easy to not like kevin durant. I have seen interviews, Instagram, vlogs and comes across as a punk. That said 50k is nothing to kd.
If there’s one thing that might bring us all together on this issue, it’s hating Michael Rapaport.
Indeed. Fine Rappaport 100K for snitching. Dude is a straight up clown.
I’m with you there. I really hope that he gets more work in movies so that I can not go see them. A vile human being.
Except for the physical threat, I think Durant should have been paid 50K. Offensive and derogatory language directed at Rappaport should be encouraged.
I agree. MR is literal garbage.
50 year old dude exposing DM’s on social media. I think I just became a fan of KD
No one deserves to be cancelled more than MR. Just cosplaying at this point. Terrible person.
Really coming from the the alien from Uranus.
That’s enlightening.
I would suspect this is normal conversation for MR. Coming from NY myself, this is acceptable and complaints should not be made, otherwise he can take the GW and go to NJ.
I am not defending Durant here because that is just some stupid stuff coming out of his mouth (fingers, whatever), but it really doesn’t seem like the NBA should be doing this. They are fining an employee based on a private conversation he had with a person not employed by the NBA that decided to make that private conversation public knowledge. They are getting into a very slippery slope area here. It would be different if KD said this stuff to an NBA employee, but that is not the case here.
And before anyone says anything, I am against the fining/suspension of Meyers Leonard also. Leonard proved himself a jerk, but the NBA should not be in the business of regulating speech when they are not on the job.
No, you are forgetting these are not private employees, they are public. When you, a citizen, knows another citizen’s salary because the press tells you, the rules are different, they are “on the job” 24 hours a day, they aren’t hourly employees.
It’s not “speech regulation” but I understand why one would think this – Karl Popper’s paradox of tolerance explains it better than I could, but that’s the answer.
The NBA doesn’t own these people. They are not “on the job” 24 hours a day. And it has nothing to do with being an hourly employee. Salaried employees are allowed private lives too.
Salaried employees shouldn’t be making unsolicited violent threats in their private lives though. This isn’t anything like Matt Barnes vs Mark Jackson. Why are you ok with this “he threatened him with violence for basically no reason” part?
Keep in mind, I don’t like MR.
Yeah I agree, doesn’t matter if it’s in your personal life or not Durant (and MR’s) comments are unacceptable. Also, if you are working in any profession and your personal messages got out, you’d still be condemned by your place of work because you represent that workplace. Private lives nowadays aren’t always private.
Any employee, whether it be in sports or in a public figure position for any business, is accountable for their actions and their words. If you embarrass your employer publicly, you are subject to disciplinary action or firing. Durant got off e with less than a slap on the wrist. More like a tsk tsk
Whether or not they’re ‘on the job’ 24 hours a day, they publicly represent the league 24 hours a day. Comes with the territory of being a high-profile, highly-paid athlete.
Though I agree with your point here.. he had a private conversation the other party shared publicly against KD’s will. The same private conversation that was altered. We didn’t see what rat port said to provoke KD. We didn’t get to see rat port’s replies.
And to compare this with what Leonard did was asinine. KD was trash talking. That’s it. Leonard was openly racist. And not in a private conversation either. (And yes, racism is wrong any way you slice it).
There’s too much legal talk by people who do not know, which, even a lawyer may not. Judges making one-off decisions do not help clarification.
But here I go. Public employees do not own depictions of themselves, but that is for practical reasons. It doesn’t apply to the using of speech. However contracts were signed to be nicey-nice, so there’s that, separately.
BTW I wonder if Durant himself worries he is breaking down.
What everyone is forgetting is that we live In USA where free speech is a protected right. Yes it was vile and sickening. But, protected. Did it break the leagues personal conduct policy? That is for them to determine. No laws broken though. It also shows us the type of people that we should not have children looking up to.
chiggie Your thinking is leaving out contracts signed that addresses speech. It’s not just a matter of laws. Either one could set you back, and Durant is under contract and was fined per the CBA not the USA. I doubt Rappaport was set back any.
Some were arguing public employment was an issue… I doubt it per se.
I could (and did, and hopefully will again someday) live comfortably in a World where employers don’t involve themselves in the private matters of their employees, unless it directly impacts business.
However, even in that World, Durant’s situation might not be different. Note that it wasn’t his employer (Nets), but an association of which they are a member, that fined him. That’s relevant because the power to fine him didn’t stem from his employment, as such, but from a negotiated agreement between that association and his union (also an association). That association can also fine owners and teams. Whether its good policy for teams and players to agree to give this heavy handed (quasi-legal) power to the league office under a vague “best interests of game” standard, THEY did it.
Let’s all just call this what it is here. It’s CYA on the part of the Nets because he used a homophobic slur in the DM.
Was it dumb for KD to do it? Yes.
Does a 50k fine mean anything? No.
Do I respect KD more now? Yes.
I’m obviously pro free speech here but if you’re putting something in writing (online) in this day and age you need to be aware of the consequences. Granted in this case it was pretty minimal for KD.
NBA in fairness probably doesn’t want to be in the business of regulating it, but once it becomes “trending” they essentially have no choice. Not fining a guy is just bad business for them at that point.
None of this really about ethics, IMO. It’s corporate CYA.
Absolutely, totally CYA. Though the sports leagues got themselves into this mess by purporting to exercise their powers for ethical (as opposed to business) purposes. Historically, they didn’t get involved player misbehavior at all unless it could be tied directly to the integrity of the sport (gambling, basically). It was accepted. No league ever took heat for the acts of its players. This was still the case not so long ago.
The NFL, ironically, was the leader in expanding “integrity of the sport” to include the integrity of those who play it. Vick, Roethlisberger and Rice are the cases I remember. But there was no way to contain it after that. Went from crime, to allegations of crime, even if dropped, to allegations of bad behavior, to bad statements, to an argument over the internet where bad words are exchanged. Once you’re the morality police, you have to weigh in on everything, and when you don’t weigh in (to punish something), you’re deemed to weigh in (as OK with it).
How about people just be cool?
Best of all it’s free of charge.
Durant is very immature.
Come on man
he is a fool
They are all fools
Hey cool, remember when Steph Curry got fined the exact same amount as this, $50,000, because his mouthguard slipped out of his hand and bounced
-near- a ref? It’s the same thing, to this clown shoes league.
Durant since he left his original team had changed my mind who he is as a person and not in the good way
Broke: KD sold out when he left OKC
Woke: KD sold out when he left GSW
Remember back in the day when you didn’t have to worry about putting on blast when you insulted someone via message? Or for that matter when you hit on someone via message? Those days are gone. Say it to their face…when no cameras are running…or don’t say it at all. KD should know better.
That said it makes no sense to me why someone would be fined for something they said over a private message. That is a slippery slope.
The problem is it became public. Sucks for KD, but that’s what you get when you engage with a clown like Rapaport.
Kinda wish KD wasn’t all talk. Could have a head like like… ‘Durant ruptures Achillies during fight with Michael Rapaport, out for the season’
Don’t you realize the internet and social media is made for people who want to be an internet tough guy.
I think the problem is people are finding out multi millionaire famous people also want to be internet tough guys too (for some inexplicable reason – why not go chill on a beach instead of tweeting?) most likely to do with poor mental health. KD has gone overboard with twitter and social media and is ruining his legacy by doing something no one told him to or even gets him paid. An addict. Just sad.
The internet is the only place Durant has any toughness.
Mental health indeed. Marty, saying others should chill on a beach.
All those things buzzing around in your head?— they’re emotions, not logical thoughts.
Durant needs to be fined more, not for what he said, but for being stupid enough to respond to Rapaport. The guy is an irrelevant has-been looking to reclaim spotlight.
That being said, this really shows the immaturity of Durant.
This is actually the best thing I think Durant has done this season.
Imagine if this was a player of a different demographic saying this…. what a huge double standard this league and society has.. players can be anti Semitic and as long as they say it’s ok, they can talk bad of gays and as long as they say their sorry it’s ok, they can talk bad of white people and as long as they say they are sorry, it’s ok.. but if it was about a different demographic, all hell would break loose.. lebaby would speak up how terrible our society is, etc.
Todd, are you referencing the African-American community here?
I’m not sure, but the plight of the African-American in America may diverge just slightly from that of whites, Jewish Americans, and the LGBTQ communities.
There has to be one high standard for all or else we are not all created equal.
How does the African American society diverge from others? How Irish Americans or Chinese Americans? We are so scared of the backlash of the African American community, but it’s ok to constantly insult the other groups because all the person has to do is say sorry, and all is forgiven.
Todd, the African-American community were slaves, categorized as property rather than human, until 1865, then from 1877 thru 1965 legally segregated from the rest of the American populace, which I believe diverges somewhat from the discrimination faced by other ethnic groups in America.
Also, I’m not sure I would agree that the backlash against perceived anti-AA commentary is any worse than the backlash against other groups, but since this is an NBA message board and not an American civics forum, I’ll end my comment here.
I hear what your saying, but that is no excuse to give a commit free passes and the African American community continues to get free passes for hate.
Hate should be condemned and punished the same way no matter if it’s against African Americans, whites, Asians, Jews, Irish, etc.. and no matter who says it.
Have a great day and good discussion and solid points you made…
He gave the typical notpology…he was sorry the texts became public not that he said them which to me shows no remorse nor acknowledgement that they should not be said.
Absolutely perfectly said. He’s sorry that people SAW what he said and how he thinks….he doesn’t feel a bit of guilt or wrongdoing for making those remarks however. This kind of comment shows who he really is.
Everyone sucks here
Not as much as Michael Rappaport
Makes me love LeBron and Ad more as a laker fan almost every time Kyrie, Durant, or Harden open their mouths. To me I always respected the athletes who were humble and good humans. Durant maybe the most unstoppable scorer in NBA history and he is also a complete player. To me he already showed he is a flake with his issues in golden state. Kyrie talks a lot and gets hurt more often or just goes on mid-season vacay. I can’t see the Nets winning the title let alone the east. A healthy Miami and Sixers will bounce these guys out.
Well at least he didn’t use a fake account this time…imagine having to cheer for this Muppet…
You kids get really worked up over things people say.
Reminds me of The Simpsons episode where airport security tell Homer he has to pay a fine of $2.
Children in school are taught the pitfalls of social media. Rule #1: There is no privacy online so be very careful what you post. Durant and others ignore this at the own risk.