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Kevin Durant stood up for the Brooklyn Nets and LeBron James on Tuesday.
KD was in sizzling form as he tallied his second triple-double of the season to lead the undermanned Brooklyn Nets to an overtime home win against the Toronto Raptors.
The Nets had as many as seven players listed in the NBA's health and safety protocol, including starters James Harden, LaMarcus Aldridge and DeAndre' Bembry. Durant himself was listed as questionable because of an ankle injury a few hours before the game, but he decided to play nonetheless.
Despite all the limitations, Kevin Durant carried the Brooklyn Nets to a 131-129 win with a 34-point, 13-rebound and 11-assist game. While praise for his terrific night came from all quarters of the NBA universe, analyst Skip Bayless took KD's all-round performance as an opportunity to taunt LeBron James.
Bayless tweeted shortly after Durant's sizzling game:
"The Best Player on the Planet was at it again tonight in Brooklyn, going assassin in overtime for the COVID-rocked Nets. Nothing like Kevin Durant. You watch, Bron?"
This was where Kevin Durant threw his support behind LeBron James. Even though Skip Bayless was rating Durant over James, the Brooklyn Nets superstar came up with a terse response to the analyst's needless criticism of the LA Lakers veteran.
Kevin Durant responded to Skip Bayless' tweet with the remark:
"I really don’t like u"
Skip Bayless may rate Kevin Durant higher, but the NBA analyst has been a perennial LeBron James critic
Kevin Durant's response to Skip Bayless needs to be understood in the context that the NBA analyst has been a critic of LeBron James for the longest time.
When the LA Lakers recently won their regular-season outing against the Orlando Magic thanks to LeBron James notching up his 101st career triple-double, Skip Bayless did not find anything complimentary to say about the 36-year-old.
In fact, he criticized James in a couple of tweets at the end of the game. His first tweet read:
"I love watching LeBron front-run and flex and celebrate dunks against a 5-22 team (without its best player Jalen Suggs). So phony GOAT. Jordan would've NEVER."
Bayless followed that tweet up with the following criticism of James:
"LOL: LeBron just played all the way to the buzzer against 5-23 Orlando, even jacking up a three (that missed) near the buzzer. Triple double! 30 points! Please, 'King.'"
Of course, LeBron James doesn't need Kevin Durant's support to handle Skip Bayless' criticism. However, Durant's actions on Twitter on Tuesday night would certainly be appreciated by James.
Also Read: Who is LeBron James Jr? All you need to know?
Guess the Lakers players!
