I can’t even begin to make sense of what I just watched. Kevin Durant during Nets postgame basically saying that NBA fans (76ers fans) who come to games to heckle players (Ben Simmons) have shitty lives and nothing better to do than to come to a basketball game to take their anger out on players.

That literally has to be one of the dumbest things I have ever heard in my life.

The 32-32 Brooklyn Nets will be in South Philadelphia tomorrow night to face the second place Philadelphia 76ers. Ben Simmons will make his return to the Wells Fargo Center during an NBA basketball game. Of course, he won’t be playing due to back soreness, but he will in fact, be sitting on the Nets bench to watch the game and ultimately, have a sold out crowd boo him into oblivion.

I wish it was an exaggeration but honestly, that’s pretty much exactly what Durant said when responding to a question about the “hostile environment” that the Nets will be entering on Thursday night.

Kevin Durant on Heckling and Ben Simmons Thursday Night

“Part of the experience of coming to an NBA game, is to heckle, some people don’t even enjoy basketball … their lives are so shitty they get to just aim it at other people….Ben [Simmons] understands that….”

Well folks, we certainly have a few different points to unpack here.

Hostile Environment?

I’d like to start with the phrase “hostile environment” that somehow became a talking point around social media over the last 48 hours in regards to the Nets-76ers game on Thursday.

What exactly do people mean by saying “hostile environment”?

People do not like Ben Simmons. They will boo Ben Simmons relentlessly on Thursday night and that is perfectly acceptable. In fact, any player that leaves their previous team on bad terms and then returns to play, or in Simmons case, to sit on the bench, would get the exact same treatment.

That is not exclusive to Philadelphia.

Simmons turned his back on this city and fanbase. There’s literally no arguing that. When things got tough, instead of working on his game and coming back to the court better than ever, he refused to speak to his teammates, the 76ers organization, or address the fanbase that for the most part embraced him over the past four years.

On top of that, Simmons allowed his representation to blame the fans, his teammates, and the 76ers organization as the reason for all of this mess in the first place.

With all that being said, calling Thursday night’s boo fest a “hostile environment” is stupid.

Read More: Ben Simmons is responding to Instagram comments >>

Kevin Durant is an idiot

Is it possible Kevin Durant is just mad at the fact that his Brooklyn Nets are 3-17 over their last 20 games? How about the fact that he only scored 14 points tonight against the Charlotte Hornets?

Whats more likely is that Ben Simmons needed someone on the Nets to say this because his coddled, soft, pathetic mind needs to hear how he is rich and so much better he is than Philly fans, and this was the only way to actually get him to show up to sit on the bench.

The truth of the matter is, Philadelphia simply doesn’t like Ben Simmons. He is the opposite of everything that this city stands for. Philadelphia embraces gritty players that give everything they have while playing sports in this city. It’s really that simple. When you don’t do that, and then flat out quit and refuse to act like a professional, people are not going to like you and I think that’s perfectly reasonable.

All of these fans with “shitty lives” are coming to the Wells Fargo Center and paying a minimum of $160 (after fees) for standing room only tickets. Sure, Simmons returning after six months of drama filled bullshit is a plus but to think it’s anything beyond booing someone who betrayed their trust and loyalty to 76ers basketball is stupid.

I know that might be a hard concept to grasp given the fact that Durant plays in Brooklyn and they have no real fans but unfortunately that’s the truth.

I can’t wait for Joel Embiid and James Harden to wipe the floor with the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday and send them further down to the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.

Oh, and watching the fans boo Ben Simmons while he sits like a pathetic loser on the bench will just be icing on the cake.