Kevin Durant Was Mad at Warriors Champion Over Stephen Curry & Kyrie Irving

Nick Young has stirred up the Curry-versus-Kyrie debate before, and it didn't go well for him. Back in August 2024, Young posted that "Kyrie is the Kobe to Curry's MJ, people scared to say he's better," a take that drew immediate backlash from fans pointing out Irving has never won a Finals MVP or even been a consensus top-10 point guard the way Young's framing implied.

Young doubled down days later in a heated exchange with Brandon Jennings rather than walking it back. Now, more than a year later, Young has revealed that the same debate once put him on the wrong side of Kevin Durant in person, not just online. He recounted running into Durant at a club sometime after his public comments favoring Irving over Curry, and the mood wasn't friendly.

"I seen KD in the club, and he was a little mad at me," Young said.

The friction traces back to the Curry-Kyrie argument Young has been willing to litigate publicly for years. A stance that put him at odds with two players Durant has history with on both sides, having won two championships and two Finals MVPs playing alongside Curry in Golden State, then spending a tumultuous few seasons alongside Irving in Brooklyn.

Durant's own public stance on the Curry-Kyrie question has stayed notably vague by comparison. Asked years ago by a Warriors fan account whether Curry or Irving was the better player, Durant demurred, saying he'd "have to really sit down and analyze it," a non-answer widely read at the time as Durant protecting his relationship with a former teammate he was especially close to.

That carefulness stands in contrast to Young's willingness to take sides loudly in Irving's favor, the exact kind of public take that apparently found its way back to Durant.

Why Young’s Comments Hit a Nerve Durant Has Had Before

Durant has a well-documented history of getting defensive anytime Curry's standing is treated as untouchable. Going back to his Warriors tenure, he frequently clashed with fans online who he felt favored Curry at his own expense.

That makes Young's public preference for Irving a particularly sensitive trigger. Touching both a teammate Durant won championships with and a teammate he later played alongside under very different, more chaotic circumstances in Brooklyn.

For Young, a 2018 NBA champion himself with the Warriors, the run-in adds a real-world consequence to a social media debate he's kept alive largely on his own. Whether or not the two have fully cleared the air, Young's account suggested that the Curry-Kyrie argument isn't just background noise for NBA Twitter.