Kevin Durant Has NSFW Response in Debate About Mid-Range Jumpers
By Jerry Trotta
As it turns out, Kevin Durant is capable of holding a thorough and comprehensive conversation on Twitter when he isn't hiding behind a wide array of burner accounts.
On Tuesday, the 10-time All-Star was involved in a back-and-forth debate with Matt Moore of the Action Network about the effectiveness of mid-ranger jumpers compared to the ever-evolving 3-pointer.
KD came across Moore's post and shared his thoughts to initiate the convo.
Sometimes it’s just the open shot. Why pass up an wide open look to shoot a semi contested shot?
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) October 15, 2019
And thus, away the Slim Reaper went in defending the quickly fading mid-range game in the NBA. If you're open, the superstar insists, TAKE the damn shot.
It’s not about me, I see dudes passing up open shots in the mid range, like wide open, to force passes to the 3 point line or force up bad finishes at the rim.
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) October 15, 2019
Nothing like a proper basketball debate to get fans excited for the upcoming season, right?
Them game is going towards 3s and lays only so why would anyone work on that shot? If it wasn’t forbidden then players would work on it and they would develop that shot.
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) October 15, 2019
This is the exact kind of content that we are here for!
Unfortunately, however, Moore decided to plead his case by using a graph to further explain and back up his numbers game.
So there’s this data point, and this isn’t some complicated metric, but it shows how players have shot mid-range over time. Even when they took more mid-range shots, they shot basically the same percentage.https://t.co/NLuWf5aUJC
— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) October 15, 2019
It just hasn’t really changed.
For those wondering if the inclusion of the graphic would trigger the ever-sensitive Durant, you were spot on, as the two-time Finals MVP clapped back with some profanity to voice his frustration on Moore "ruining" the convo with the graph.
Who the fuck wants to look at graphs while having a hoop convo?
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) October 15, 2019
Moore's diagram and analytics palpably backed his argument that players in today's game should shoot more treys than deuces, but KD simply wasn't here for it.
If there's one thing we learned from this lengthy exchange, it's the fact that Durant will defend the mid-range game to the grave. After all, that's what he was raised on, and what turned him into the all-time great talent that he is today.