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What’s the story?
After his controversial comments that caused an uproar in India yesterday, basketball star Kevin Durant has issued a formal apology on Facebook and Twitter.
He wrote, “Sorry that my comments about India were taken out of context, I’m grateful for the time I’ve got to spend there and I’m really pissed about how my comments came off, that’s my fault, should’ve worded that better.”
“I spoke about the difference between my imagination and reality there in Delhi and about where the game is compared to the rest of the world. No offense from this side, I’m coming back out there for more camps and cool s***. Sorry...,” Durant concluded.
In case you didn’t know…
Durant travelled to India in what was his first visit to the country in the last week of July, much to the joy of local fans. He engaged in workshops with upcoming Indian youngsters at the NBA Academy. The Golden State Warriors forward also visited the Taj Mahal, something that was on his bucket list for quite some time.
Following his tour, he gave an interview to the Athletic, speaking about his experiences in India.
The heart of the matter
In the interview, Durant marvelled at the visible poverty and the "cows in the street, monkeys running around everywhere, hundreds of people on the side of the road". He even said that India was at least 20 years behind “in terms of knowledge and experience”.
Durant further added that the visit to the Taj Mahal was eye-opening. He had expected a "holy ground, super protected, very, very clean." However, it only reminded him of the areas near Washington DC where he grew up.
Durant’s comments went viral on social media and caused a furore in the country yesterday.
What’s next?
Now that Durant has formally issued an apology it remains to be seen how his fans in India react.
Author’s take
The way I see it, while Durant’s apology might have been sincere, there is no way of taking those disregarding comments back. Of course, comments can be misinterpreted but Durant’s comments seemed pretty insightful. Maybe, he should have worded it better.
That he tried to defend himself by saying that the “comments were taken out of context” is an age-old cliché. He should be able to do better.
Guess the Lakers players!
