Prime, one of the fastest-growing hydration drinks founded by YouTubers Logan Paul and KSI, is spreading its wings rapidly. After signing several top athletes, they finally entered the NBA through the long limbs of Kevin Durant. Their partnership announcement came right before the Paris Olympics. To increase audience engagement, Paul had another social media sensation IShowSpeed (Darren Watkins Jr) join his podcast with the NBA vet.

During the entire episode, it seemed KD didn’t appreciate Speed’s mannerisms or found his antics disrespectful. One such incident came when Speed was expressing his childhood love for Durant, which was met with a ruthless response. “Get off my d**k,” he told the 19-year-old streamer. An X fan noticed this behavior and decided to hit back at the Slim Reaper for his rude behavior. “KD is 100% the guy who brings up money or says smd when people just roasting like normal,” the fan commented.

It’s just too bad for that fan because Kevin Durant seems to have had time today, and he decided to respond to the jab with a strong uppercut. “Disclaimer…..Go get u some money before u try to joke on me cuz I’m goin for the kill every time,” Durant replied to the X user who questioned his character. It’s still unclear whether the 2x Finals MVP’s treatment of Speed was staged or his genuine reaction. The popular streamer didn’t have anything foul to say about Kevin Durant, nor did Logan Paul, which might suggest that his bullying Speed was all part of the theme of the podcast rather than the Suns’ forward being rash.

Notably, this wasn’t the only time the NBA vet responded to a public comment on the same topic.

About two days ago, he took to X and decided to go after an individual who wrote, “Kevin Durant has to be one of the most miserable humans on this planet. No wife, no kids, just basketball. I have not seen him genuinely happy since he was in OKC,” (the fan has deleted this tweet). Surely enough, KD, who seldom shows any hesitation towards online confrontation, blew the critic away with an interesting rap reference.

He wrote, “‘Tweetin like the rent due’ or whatever karrahbooo said.” This was in reference to KARRAHBOOO’s viral rap collaboration for producing  ‘2 HANDS 2 EYES 10 WHIPS/RENT DUE’. The original line for the viral track sounds like, “Penthouse with a view, Rappin’ like the rent due.”

However, amidst all this public attention towards Durant being mean to the YouTube sensation, how much of it makes sense?

Kevin Durant wasn’t always rude to IShowSpeed

Clips can be deceiving (especially the viral ones that break the internet). Yes, there were moments when Kevin Durant’s reactions to Speed were questionable. However, that wasn’t how he generally treated the social media sensation. In the 45-minute conversation, the duo had several light-hearted exchanges suggesting there was never any tension. That highlight moment between them was when Durant picked Cristiano Ronaldo (IShowSpeed’s favorite soccer player) as the GOAT over Lionel Messi!

Moreover, he was also impressed and congratulated Watkins on his astronomical online success. Later, Kevin also obliged to play a game of HORSE with the 19-year-old. In that video, he kept an uptight demeanor in front of the camera. But otherwise, he was sweet and welcoming of Speed’s unusual and somewhat awkward energy. In one of the moments, he was visibly shaken when the YouTuber successfully touched the rim in a pair of Yeezy slides.

Overall, it seemed like a fun conversation with Speed meeting another one of his idols growing up. And the Slim Reaper was just being himself, humorous and ruthless. What do you think?

Before you go, though, be sure to check this video of Leonard Armato’s take on the deadly duo, Shaq and Kobe. Don’t forget to check back in for more such updates from our ES Fancast!