"All this s**t is corny" - Kevin Durant bluntly dismisses ex-Bulls guard's 'cancel culture' rant on coaching American vs international stars

A discussion on "First Take" regarding the difference between international and American players has received attention from Kevin Durant. OKC Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander winning the 2025 MVP Award was discussed by Stephen A. Smith, Molly Qerim, Michael Wilbon and Jay Williams on ESPN's "First Take."

The conversation gravitated toward the difference between the way players are coached abroad and in the USA. According to Williams, who played for the Chicago Bulls in 2002-03, young American players have become uncoachable because they can't accept criticism.

Stephen A. agreed with him while adding that part of this is players' focus on monetizing their brand, which is compromised by tough coaching.

Their conversation on coaching prompted a response from Durant on X, who disagreed with the takes. He argued that most successful international players have roots in American basketball culture and emphasized that basketball is a global sport taught differently everywhere.

"Who says there’s a perfect way to teach the game?" KD said. "All this s*** is corny."

Kevin Durant

@@KDTrey5

Most of these successful international guys either are influenced heavily by American basketball culture, played high school ball in America, some even went to college here. This whole convo is trash, basketball is a universal language, some people have different dialect. Some states teach the game different than other states, who says there’s a perfect way to teach the game? All this shit is corny

Aside from this year's MVP being an international player, the top three vote-getters were also from overseas. Nikola Jokic came in second place and Giannis Antetokounmpo came in third.

A similar trend was seen in previous years. Last season, Jokic won and Gilgeous-Alexander, Luka Doncic and Giannis trailed him in voting. In 2023, Joel Embiid bagged the award and Jokic and Giannis were two and three, respectively.

The last time an American player was in the top three in MVP voting was in 2021. Jokic won with Embiid as the runner-up and Steph Curry came in at number three.

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Kevin Durant takes a dig at Kendrick Perkins after his statement about the 2011-12 OKC Thunder

Former Boston Celtics champion Kendrick Perkins claims that his contributions to the 2011-12 OKC Thunder were what helped them reach the NBA Finals that year. Perkins shared this take on the "Road Trippin'" podcast hosted by Channing Frye, Richard Jefferson and Allie Clifton.

According to Perkins, he was responsible for locking up Dirk Nowitzki as well as the LA Lakers frontcourt duo of Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. He also said he contained the San Antonio Spurs' big three of Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan — contributions which helped the Thunder reach the Finals.

Kevin Durant responded to this statement somewhat sarcastically on X.

"The actual real MVP," Durant said.

Durant and Perkins have beefed before regarding their time as teammates with the Thunder.

They had a back-and-forth regarding KD's legacy with OKC, with Perkins pointing out Durant's departure while Durant pointed out Perkins' lackluster stats for the team.