Golden State Warriors’ Kevin Durant Apologizes for ‘Negative’ Comments About India

Golden State Warriors player Kevin Durant, crowned as the Most Valuable Player in the recent NBA finals, has issued a public apology for his recent comments about India.

Duran’t comments on India came during an interview with The Athletic after returning from India last week. When asked what it was like, Durant answered:

“Um, it was a unique experience. I went with no expectation, no view on what it’s supposed to be like. I usually go to places where I at least have a view in my head. India, I’m thinking I’m going to be around palaces and royalty and gold — basically thought I was going to Dubai. Then when I landed there, I saw the culture and how they live and it was rough. It’s a country that’s 20 years behind in terms of knowledge and experience. You see cows in the street, monkeys running around everywhere, hundreds of people on the side of the road, a million cars and no traffic violations. Just a bunch of underprivileged people there and they want to learn how to play basketball. That s— was really, really dope to me.”

Following up, Durant revealed what was most eye-opening to him during his trip:

“Yeah. As I was driving up to the Taj Mahal, like I said, I thought that this would be holy ground, super protected, very very clean. And as I’m driving up, it’s like, s—, this used to remind me of some neighborhoods I would ride through as a kid. Mud in the middle of the street, houses were not finished but there were people living in them. No doors. No windows. The cows in the street, stray dogs and then, boom, Taj Mahal, one of the seven wonders of the world. It’s like holy s—, this was built 500 years ago and everyone comes here. It’s just an eye-opener.”

However, some took Durant’s comments as offensive, pushing him to issue an apology.

Durant, in his apology letter posted on Twitter on Friday, August 11, 2017, admitted that it was his fault why people took his comments about India out of context. “I’m grateful for the time I’ve got to spend there and I’m really pissed about how my comments came off, that’s my fault, should’ve worded that better,” he continued in the letter.

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The 28-year-old athlete also mentioned in the post about the difference between his imagination and the “reality there in Delhi.” He reassured everyone that he will return to the country to run more basketball camps.

Image via Wikimedia Commons / Keith Allison (CC BY-SA 2.0)

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