LeBron James finally chimed in on the comments Kevin Durant made earlier this month when the Golden State Warriors star called the environment around James “toxic.”
James initially took the high road on the matter, refusing to comment without further context. But in an interview with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols on Monday, the 33-year-old revealed that he was not too pleased when he heard Durant’s remarks.
“I was a little pissed off when I first heard it, to be honest,” James said. “I didn’t know where it stemmed from. So I was pissed, my family was pissed, and my friends were pissed. We just didn’t know why, at this point and time in the season, my name or what I’ve done in my career was kind of talked about like that. I don’t feel like it’s ever been toxic around me. And when I hear ‘toxic,’ I automatically thought, ‘toxic’ is like you don’t wanna be around that because it’s almost like a fatal disease.”
Durant has the option to become a free agent after this season and was posed the question by the media if he would be interested in playing with James. Durant seemed far from excited about the thought of joining James in a Los Angeles Lakers uniform.
“He has so many fanboys in the media. Even the beat writers just fawn over him,” Durant told Bleacher Report’s Ric Boucher earlier this month. “I’m like, we’re playing basketball here, and it’s not even about basketball at certain points. So I get why anyone wouldn’t want to be in that environment because it’s toxic. Especially when the attention is bullshit attention, fluff. It’s not LeBron’s fault at all; it’s just the fact you have so many groupies in the media that love to hang on every word. Just get out of the way and let us play basketball.”
King James and KD, it seems, have since been in communication after those comments came out and smoothed out any bad feelings the remarks may have left.
“Got a phone call from KD,” said James. “We talked about it. He mentioned how he felt and how he felt the story took a twist. And as a man, I don’t hold on to things too long. I’m too happy in my life right now, and I don’t hold on to anything that will take away from my happiness.”
It appears the two competitors have buried the hatchet off the court, and despite Durant’s comments, Los Angeles likely will remain a rumored destination for the superstar forward should he opt for free agency this summer.
