Kevin Durant Both Disses, Praises Philly Fans Before Ben Simmons Return

Durant clowns, praises Philly fans ahead of Simmons return originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant was at one time the most hated man in the NBA, and he knows what it's like to enter an arena full of fans who want nothing more than to see you fail and then tell you about it.

So he has an idea of what former Sixers star Ben Simmons is heading into Thursday night when Brooklyn visits the Sixers, even though Simmons won't be playing and will just be sitting on the bench as he continues to work his way back from a litany of ailments and obstacles.

Simmons' departure from Philly - a summer trade request, a refusal to engage with his teammates, an ongoing tussle over fines - was ugly, and Sixers fans are primed to unleash their frustration Thursday night at a player who they once viewed as integral to a championship run.

MORE: It sounds like Ben Simmons is ready for Sixers fans' boos

Durant was asked Tuesday night after the Nets' win vs. the Hornets if he's told Simmons anything to get him ready for the night, what it's like to be in the middle of a firestorm like this, and what he expects the crowd to be like. His answers were pretty good. Here's a sampling.

Have you helped prepare Ben for Thursday?

"It's one of those things he's going to have to experience for himself. I can't go over there, nobody's going to hold his hand. I'm sure it's going to be some personal attacks, it's going to be some words that may trigger you personally, but that's just how fans are. They want to get under our skin, they want to let their voices be heard. I think part of the experience of coming to an NBA game is to heckle. Some people don't even enjoy basketball, they just like -- their lives are so sh***y that they just need to aim it at other people, so it's easy to kind of get that release at a basketball game. Ben understands that. I'm sure some stuff may be funny. [Laughs] You never know. But at the end of the day, realize that life is amazing, we play the game of basketball for a living, and a little bit of trash talking is what it is."

This is pretty good and true, other than the "their lives are so sh***y" part, which is just an updated and more spitfeul version of LeBron James' frustrated answer during the 2011 NBA Finals -- except that James was 26 when he said that fans "have to wake up tomorrow and have the same life that they had before they woke up today", and Durant is currently 33. Durant certainly seems to have a ton of perspective, but this seems unnecessarily inflammatory. 

I do like that he admitted some of the trash talk might be funny. I imagine players trade stories of the funniest trash talk they've ever been subjected to. Seems hilarious.

What's it like being in the middle of a firestorm?

"It's a different situation, because I got to play and shut the people up every time I hit a jump shot. But Ben doesn't have that opportunity right now, he's got to just sit there and just take a bunch of people just being childish, throwing insults his way because he didn't want to play basketball for them no more. It's a funny -- it's funny when you look at it, you know, the big picture and you see what it really is. But that's just the sport we play, the profession we're in. We're guys making $40 million a year -- you can take that for a couple hours. I'm sure Ben has that approach."

On a macro level, Durant is right -- it's funny to think that a bunch of people will yell at Simmons for three hours on Thursday night because he wanted to play basketball somewhere else. 

READ: Observations after Sixers move to 5-0 with James Harden

But as I wrote Tuesday, it's not just that he wanted to leave - because that's fine. It's the way it happened. To most Sixers fans it feels like Simmons came up small in the playoffs and then quit on the organization when he took the brunt of the blame. That's what Thursday night is going to be about. It's more than just a trade request; it's a rebuttal of the tough love and requited passion that turns Philly athletes into legends.

Also, Durant is definitely taking a dig at Russell Westbrook's recent frustration with hecklers. So snarky.

What do you think Thursday will be like?

"It'll be loud. I'm sure Philly fans and people who watch the game, media think this is somewhat of a budding rivalry. So I imagine it's going to feel that way. Philly has some of the best sports fans in the world, and it's only good that they're coming to show support to their team but also want to come see how we look, too."

Good answer. Durant went on to say he doesn't think this is a rivalry yet, but you can bet the two fanbases feel a rivalry churning. 

I also like that basically every major athlete has to begrudgingly admit how great Philly sports fans are. When you come play here you can't deny the city has an extra edge, a next level of magnetism, that elevates its games unlike many places in the country or even the world. It's electric.

All in all it was a mixed bag of good and bad, funny and mean, from Durant. That's basically what I expect from him. Thursday night should be extremely entertaining.