2018 has been a big year for social media squabbles among professional athletes. Golden State Warriors small forward Kevin Durant seemed to have a new Twitter beef every week, but he was far from being the only sports celebrity engaging in Internet warfare. Here are some of the funniest feuds of the year (so far):
Kyrie Irving vs. Scientific Facts
Five-time NBA All-Star Kyrie Irving is undoubtedly a star on the basketball court, but he is, as they say, no rocket scientist. The Boston Celtics point guard has questioned whether the Earth is actually round, telling the New York Times, “Can you openly admit that you know the Earth is constitutionally round? Like, you know that for sure? Like, I don’t know. I was never trying to convince anyone that the world is flat. I’m not being an advocate for the world being completely flat. No, I don’t know. I really don’t,” he told the Times reporter.
“It’s fun to think about though. It’s fun to have that conversation. It is absolutely fun because people get so agitated and mad. They’re like, 'hey man, you can’t believe that man. It’s religious, man. It’s just science. You can’t believe anything else. O.K.?' Cool, well, explain to me. Give me what you’ve known about the Earth and your research, and I love it. I love talking about it,” he added.
Apparently, Irving has never seen a picture of the planet taken from space. Luckily, the player has a net worth of $50 million, so whether he thinks the Earth is flat or a rectangle is insignificant since scientific knowledge is not paying his bills.
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Smash Mouth vs. Myles Garrett vs. Kevin Durant
Smash Mouth, the 90s band who gave us the hit All-Star, has had some strong opinions about sports on Twitter. This year, the band took issue with comments made by Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett’s against Golden State Warriors small forward Kevin Durant. After the Warriors won their third NBA title in four years, Garrett threw some shade at Durant in a radio interview.
“Me, I’m too competitive to try and ride on somebody’s coattails to get a W. But for him, you might as well stay at the spot you’re at now. There’s no point in leaving since you’ve already taken that moniker where he’s been called the snake and cupcake and all that. You might as well stay and just keep on winning.”
Smash Mouth shot back at the NFL player on Twitter saying, “Hey Myles Garrett,…nobody knows who the F you are so nobody gives an F what you would do. And Genius the @warriors didn’t win the Championship the season before KD signed. So not sure what “coattails” you’re referring to.”
Don’t expect Smash Mouth and Garrett to release a duet any time soon.
RELATED: KEVIN DURANT SAYS HE'LL RE-SIGN WITH THE WARRIORS
Rockets Fans vs. Warriors Fans on Yelp
Of all places to get into a social media feud, Yelp perhaps ranks as one of the strangest. Golden State Warriors fans were met with some strong resistance after supporting Stephen Curry’s wife Ayesha’s Houston restaurant, International Smoke, after the Warriors beat the Rockets in Game Seven of the Western Conference Finals, when Curry scored 27 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, earning his team a fourth straight trip to the NBA Finals by beating the Rockets 101–92.
One fan wrote, “I love this restaurant. Every time I walk in, it smells like champagne. The only problem is the location because I think Houstonians have forgotten [what] a champion tastes like.”
This take review wasn’t received well by Rockets fans with one responding, “This is absolutely the worst place to go – her husband ripped our hearts out and now she has the guts to open up a place here?? I would never set foot in this place even if it was the last place on earth. P.S. This restaurant is full of snakes.”
The restaurant currently has 3.5 stars on Yelp. One can only assume that means 5 stars in Oakland.
NEXT: HOW CARMELO ANTHONY WILL REBOUND WITH THE ROCKETS
Denny Hamlin vs. The Field
During the 2018 Daytona 500 weekend, Denny Hamlin, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver, while talking on the Pardon My Take podcast, was asked whether NASCAR drivers used drugs such as Adderall or other ADHD medication to help them concentrate during races. Hamlin’s response, which he later said was a joke, claimed that he believed 70 percent of Daytona drivers were taking Adderall.
The field, in general, was not happy with Hamlin’s response, and neither was Kevin Harvick, a fellow NASCAR driver, who said, “sometimes you can say things that you think are funny that really aren’t that funny. And I know that Denny said he was kind of making an off-the-cuff comment trying to be funny. But it really wasn’t that funny because I think as you look at the rest of the drivers and the people that are in the sport and understand the drug policy and understand the things that we go through on a weekly basis, it kind of made him seem a little bit out of touch with everything that’s actually going on in the sport.”
Adding, “So not a very cool comment, and I don’t think anybody in the garage really appreciated having to answer the questions or deal with them. Sometimes, Denny, it’s better just to be quiet.”
This advice seems to apply to most professional athletes who may save themselves a lot of grief if they keep their focus on the game and refrain from making inane comments on social media. Although we must admit, it is fun.
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