Kevin Durant was fined $50,000 by the NBA on Friday for his offensive and derogatory language in social media messages to actor Michael Rapaport.
Rapaport released images of the private messages Tuesday on his Twitter account, and they included homophobic and misogynistic language from the Brooklyn Nets star.
Durant apologized Thursday, saying: “I’m sorry that people seen the language that I used. That’s not really what I want people to see and hear from me, but hopefully I can move past it and get back out on the floor.”
In a private conversation which appears to date back to last year, Durant attacked the 51-year-old actor and sports podcaster with a flurry of highly profane insults. Durant went on to challenge Rapaport to a fistfight on the streets on New York City before asking for his home address.
Durant also called Rapaport a “bitch”, a “pussy”, a “pale pasty cum guzzling bitch” and a “piece of shit”, followed by a series of insults invoking the actor’s wife.
The two-time NBA champion appeared to confirm the authenticity of the direct messages in a tweet on Tuesday, then made a tepid attempt to defuse the situation in Rapaport’s Instagram comments, writing: “my bad I apologize”.
Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden have been able to play just seven times together since the Nets acquired Harden in January, but the team has rolled to first place in the Eastern Conference while Durant sits.
The 11-time All-Star has missed Brooklyn’s past 21 games. He is averaging 29.0 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists this year.