It seems like everything’s not going well with the Phoenix Suns’ star Kevin Durant! The reason? Well, first of all, there are trade rumors associated with the Suns’ massive demand for him, and secondly, his statement on the Seattle Mariners’ center fielder, Julio Rodriguez, has received backlash from the fans all over. Any reason behind that?

Reasons are plenty; however, Durant made sure to heap praise on Rodriguez, citing that he seeds some of himself in him. While Rodriguez is a young guy who had a quite good 2024 regular season with a.273 average, 567 AB, and 20 home runs, Durant is a legend of the game. Kevin Durant is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, as he led his team to win two NBA championships and was named an All-Star fourteen times in his 17-year career.

The Phoenix Suns’ All-Star, averaging 22.6 points with 4.1 assists and 4.8 rebounds in the last 20 games, has been ready despite some injury concerns that kept him out of the bay. However, on March 12, when Durant was asked in an interview about who he considers the KD in baseball, he mentioned Julio Rodriguez’s name, citing, “He’s a young guy in the league, building his name; his rep. gaining respect from a lot of fans around the world.”

Durant might just be a little more ‘biased’, as he considers himself, but he considers Rodriguez his boy. The reason is that Kevin Durant was first drafted by the Seattle Supersonics in the 2007 NBA draft, due to which he’s still a huge favorite in the Pacific Northwest. Not only is Durant a fan of Rodriguez, but he also has good fandom for the Mariners’ squad.

While Durant averaged 25.3 points for every game on 47.6/42.2/86.3 with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Mariners’ Rodriguez also managed to hit 32 home runs, stealing 37 bases and scoring 102 runs as well. So, despite the few things that parallel the two, Durant’s statement on Rodriguez has led to the fans trashing him. But why?

Fans share their reactions to Durant talking about the Mariners’ $209 million phenomenon

What felt like a heartwarming message shared by Kevin Durant heaping praise on Julio Rodriguez turned out to be a debacle. Fans are criticizing him, and one of them commented, “KD just called himself mid.” Based on the reaction, it could be understood that Durant has compared him with Rodriguez, who is much younger and has little experience in the major league games to now. His average in the regular season was around 273, and he scored 20 home runs only, which makes him a mid-level player who cannot be compared to NBA legend Kevin Durant.

An X user commented, “Gaining respect for what? Putting up meaningless stats? If he’s really KD he’ll be on the Dodgers in 3 years.” Going by this reaction, the user doesn’t seem very content with the way Rodriguez performs. According to him, if Rodriguez was Kevin Durant, then he would have been with the Dodgers for three years. The Dodgers are the only team that signs the best of players, and Rodriguez isn’t a part of them yet.

Echoing a similar statement, another user cited the injury reason to be the same for both of them. And it’s true. Going by his statement, “He’s right, both are always injured,” Rodriguez hurt himself when crashing into the padding of the center field when playing against the Astros, which pushed him out of the game for three weeks. Similarly, Kevin Durant has also gone through multiple injuries, including fractures in the ribs in 2018, a left-hand concussion in the same year, and an injury in the calf recently, due to which he missed several games.

A commenter on X specified that if Rodriguez is going to that level of Kevin Durant, he needs to win the World Series title for his team first. “J Rod is going to take his team to their first ever World Series, then leave for the team that beats them,” was quoted saying, which indicates that he has taken a funny dig at Rodriguez’s not-so-special performance; however, he has got a good plan for him certainly, isn’t it?

Another fan said, “I see zero similarities. KD has been consistently one of the best pretty much from the time he first stepped onto the NBA court. Meanwhile, Julio’s numbers took a big nosedive last year, and its only his 3rd season.” It seems like Durant’s been biased, given that Rodriguez hadn’t had a great last season and it was his third season only. Still, the NBA legend found similarities in him.

Do you think J. Rod is the KD of baseball? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.