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SportsActive · 36h

Kevin Durant dismisses WNBA 'politics' as noise, praises league's growth

At Houston Rockets media day, Durant brushed off questions about divisiveness and the Enes Kanter Freedom controversy, calling the WNBA 'flourishing'.

newest coverage 18h agosummary written 18h ago9 pieces2.3k likes & upvotes34 comments RedditBlueskyNewswires

What to know

  • The WNBA is currently searching for a new commissioner amid what outlets describe as 'divisiveness' around the league.
  • Durant's comments came in response to a question referencing former teammate Enes Kanter Freedom's WNBA Draft declaration, seen by critics as mocking the league's gender definition.
  • Durant framed the controversy as separate from the league's real story: record financial growth, visibility, and player business ventures.
  • Multiple outlets (SI, Yahoo Sports) amplified the remarks as a notable NBA-star endorsement of the WNBA's trajectory.

“So a lot of that stuff, the politics they bring into sports nowadays, I understand the messaging behind what they trying to do, but a person like me who just strictly cares for the purity of the sport, I do not give a f--- about that.”

Kevin Durant, NBA player · Sports Illustrated ↗ · Sep 22

Kevin DurantKevin Durant Houston Rockets forwardEnes Kanter FreedomEnes Kanter Freedom Former NBA player, ex-Durant teammateAdam SilverAdam Silver NBA CommissionerCaitlin ClarkCaitlin Clark Indiana Fever star

Kevin Durant dismisses WNBA 'politics' as noise, praises league's growth
Sports Illustrated

How it unfolded 4 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlespostscomments

Peak 2 pieces in one hour at Sep 22, 1 PM; 9 pieces over 37 hours (3 articles · 2 posts · 4 comments) Sep 22, 1 PM — 2 pieces · 2 posts — Bluesky 1, Reddit 1Sep 22, 2 PM — quietSep 22, 3 PM — quietSep 22, 4 PM — 1 piece · 1 article — Newswires 1Sep 22, 5 PM — quietSep 22, 6 PM — quietSep 22, 7 PM — 1 piece · 1 article — Newswires 1Sep 22, 8 PM — quietSep 22, 9 PM — quietSep 22, 10 PM — quietSep 22, 11 PM — quietYesterday, 12 AM — quietYesterday, 1 AM — quietYesterday, 2 AM — 2 pieces · 2 comments — Reddit 2Yesterday, 3 AM — 2 pieces · 2 comments — Reddit 2Yesterday, 4 AM — quietYesterday, 5 AM — quietYesterday, 6 AM — quietYesterday, 7 AM — 1 piece · 1 article — Newswires 1Yesterday, 8 AM — quietYesterday, 9 AM — quietYesterday, 10 AM — quietYesterday, 11 AM — quietYesterday, 12 PM — quietYesterday, 1 PM — quietYesterday, 2 PM — quietYesterday, 3 PM — quietYesterday, 4 PM — quietYesterday, 5 PM — quietYesterday, 6 PM — quietYesterday, 7 PM — quietYesterday, 8 PM — quietYesterday, 9 PM — quietYesterday, 10 PM — quietYesterday, 11 PM — quietToday, 12 AM — quietToday, 1 AM — quiet 1234
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  1. 4

    Sports Illustrated calls Durant's statement 'powerful' and needed

    A follow-up SI piece by Kristen Wong reprinted the full press-conference exchange, including the reporter's question, and characterized Durant's answer as a strong, timely defense of the league.

    1. 1 outlet first by Sports Illustrated, 18h ago · read ↗

    • I used to play pickup with a woman who played college ball at a mid-major and I think is in her school’s hall of fame, though she was nowhere near WNBA caliber. She was the only two woman who ever played with that group, so of course we used a men’s ball. She shot the shit out of that thing. I always found that impressive, because I know for a…

      Mender0fRoadsr/nba23h agoview on r/nba ↗
    2 more of the top 3 · 4 posts in this stretch

    • Yup that was Julie Vanloo, she's in the WNBA now (was mostly in EuroLeague up til 2024). And he went to one of her WNBA games last year

      smashketballr/nba23h agoview on r/nba ↗

    • wtf are you on about. LeBron gives flowers to WNBA players, past and present, quite a bit.

      Pandos17r/nba22h agoview on r/nba ↗
    all of them →
  2. 3

    Yahoo Sports covers Durant's full remarks and league context

    Yahoo Sports reproduced Durant's full quote and situated it against record WNBA ratings and ticket sales alongside the ongoing transgender-eligibility debate.

    “I care about flourishing and pushing the league forward and that's what's happening right now.”
    — Kevin Durant, NBA player · source
    1. 1 outlet Kevin Durant reveals how he really feels about the current state of the WNBA

      first by Yahoo Sports, 1d ago

  3. 2

    Sports Illustrated frames Durant's comment as advice to next WNBA commissioner

    SI's Robin Lundberg reported the exchange, noting the WNBA is searching for a new commissioner and linking Durant's remarks to Adam Silver's earlier comment that Caitlin Clark had been used as a 'political football'.

    1. 1 outlet Kevin Durant Offers Spot-On Assessment of Drama Around WNBA

      first by Sports Illustrated, 1d ago

  4. 1

    Bluesky post spreads Durant's remarks widely

    A Bluesky post quoting Durant's comments gained over 2,000 likes and dozens of comments, spreading the quote beyond sports media.

    “All that stuff is to be noise man. WNBA is flourishing. Look what these women are doing. Look at the money they made over the last few years. Look at the visibility of their league.”
    — Kevin Durant, NBA player · source
  5. background

    Durant calls WNBA 'drama' noise at Rockets media day — A reporter asked Durant about divisiveness around the WNBA and 'shenanigans' involving former teammate Enes Kanter Freedom; Durant responded by calling the controversy noise and highlighting the league's financial and business growth.

What people are saying 1 voices from 1 site · best of 4 · verbatim