Paris Olympics saw South Sudan head coach trash-talking Kevin Durant
A funny interaction between Kevin Durant and South Sudan’s head coach was caught on video and soon went viral. With the 2024 Paris Olympics now underway, Durant and Team USA are heavily favored to emerge victorious and win the gold medal.
Although KD missed the exhibition games leading up to the Olympics due to an injury, he appears to be fully recovered and back for the USA in their group-stage opener against Nikola Jokic and Serbia. After leading Team USA to victory, Kevin Durant and his team recently faced off against South Sudan.
During the game, an exchange between South Sudanese coach Durant and Royal Ive took place. Now that the context is given, let’s take a closer look and find out more.
Kevin Durant and Royal Ivey played together in the OKC Thunder
The average length of a player’s career in the NBA is not very long. As a result, many of them engage in other work after retirement. One such player was Royal Ivy. For those who don’t know, Ivey spent 9 seasons in the NBA. More importantly, he spent the back end of his career with the OKC Thunder. At the time, Durant was on the Thunder and probably had a relationship with Ivy.
One has to wonder if that played a role during the recent game between Team USA and South Sudan. Footage of Sun Star taunting Ivey and claiming the South Sudanese players were not tough has gone viral.
“Y’all ain’t **gas hard.”
Kevin Durant to South Sudan head coach and good friend Royal Ive while at the free throw line 😳
(via phoenixsunhoop/IG)pic.twitter.com/o7ay1zDgz1
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 1, 2024
After watching the video, most fans disagreed with Durant. However, none of them can do anything about it. Even Durant’s staunchest critics have been temporarily silenced by his performances on the international stage.
KD was the difference maker for Team USA vs. South Sudan
Most fans who missed a basketball game this offseason will know that this is the second time in recent memory that Team USA and South Sudan have met. Their previous matchup was competitive and Team USA needed heroics from LeBron James to win.
Compared to their last game, this match was a blowout and ended with Team USA winning 103-86. They had complete control of the group stage matchup with Kevin Durant on the court, so he certainly earned the right to trash-talk his old friend and opposing coach.