SAN FRANCISCO—Golden State Warriors star Kevin Durant apologised on Tuesday for exchanges with fans on Twitter about his departure from Oklahoma City Thunder, branding his comments “childish” and “idiotic.”
Durant, who was speaking while appearing on a Tech Crunch panel in San Francisco, said he regretted posting remarks that cited former coach Billy Donovan and team-mate Russell Westbrook.
The NBA Finals MVP was caught out on Twitter after using his official account on the social media site to reply to comments from a fan asking why he had left Oklahoma City.
“He didn’t like the organization or playing for Billy Donovan,” Durant wrote in the third person.
“His roster wasn’t that good, it was just him and Russ (Russell Westbrook).”
US media reports have said Durant had meant to post the remarks from a fake Twitter account.
Durant on Tuesday took ownership of his gaffe—but vowed to continue replying to fans.
“I use Twitter to engage with fans,” Durant said. “I happened to take it a little too far. That’s what happens sometimes when I get into these basketball debates about what I really love, to play basketball. I don’t regret clapping back at anybody or talking to my fans on Twitter. I do regret using my former coach’s name and the former organization I played for. That was childish. That was idiotic, all those types of words. I apologise for that.”
Durant said while he would continue to interact with fans, he expected to scale back his social media activity.
“I don’t think I’ll stop engaging with fans,” Durant said. “I really enjoy it, and it’s a good way to connect us all, but I’ll scale back a little bit right now and just focus on playing basketball.
“I’ll move on from that, it was tough to deal with yesterday.”
Meanwhile, Australian star Andrew Bogut has inked a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, the player’s agent said on Tuesday.
Bogut, 32, has been a free agent since parting with the Cleveland Cavaliers in March, when he sustained a broken leg on his debut for the club.
The deal, confirmed by agent David Bauman on Twitter, is reportedly worth $2.3 million (1.9 million euros) for the towering center.
Bogut endured a nomadic 2016-2017 season, starting out with the Dallas Mavericks where he averaged three points and 8.4 rebounds in 26 games.
He was later traded to the Philadelphia 76ers and then reached a buyout agreement in February which freed him to join the Cavaliers.
However his Cleveland career lasted just 58 seconds after a collision with Miami’s Okaro White left him with a fractured tibia.
Bogut, the number one pick in the 2005 draft, was a member of the Golden State Warriors team which won the NBA Finals in 2015 and was a runner-up the following season.
Bogut’s best season in a 13-year NBA career came in 2009-2010, when he averaged 15.2 points and 10.2 rebounds for the Milwaukee Bucks.