Durant’s Team USA is calling out a “racist victim mentality,” according to Williams

Kevin Durant‘s recent comments about The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) and the differences between USA basketball and European basketball they caused a great debate. Durant has previously argued that the criticism against AAU is a veiled attack on the idea that “Black Americans” control the sport and there was no real reason to criticize except that it stems from racist tendencies.

However, in a conversation with Steven A. Smith, Jay Williams launched an impassioned tirade against Durant’s comments, claiming they represented a racist victim mentality, according to the post on X from ClutchPoints.

“The first argument was about AAU basketball, which is a completely different argument than the black American thing. I think whenever you bring race into something like this, it hijacks the conversation and takes away the starting point. I felt a little bit like a racist victim mentality and it worried me a little because I think criticizing the development system is not criticizing the development system, he said before talking about the American systems. bunch of legends who also talked about the differences between the European approach versus the US approach.

“I felt a little bit like a racist victim mentality … because I think criticizing the development system is not criticizing race. And we’re talking about development systems for Americans.”

Jay Williams on Kevin Durant’s basketball game in the USA.pic.twitter.com/BaiDVNIraK

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) February 26, 2026

Kobe Bryant, for example, has previously argued that while in the US players are initially taught athleticism, European schools tend to prioritize basketball IQ and skill. Bryant did not conclude that the European method was correct and only discussed the differences between the two schools.

“What really bothered me about the comment is that for the longest time we’ve heard American players talk about it. Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, 2015. Kobe Bryant literally said European players are being taught how to play the right way,” Williams said.

The argument is simple. Williams believes that the criticisms, that is, the differences between these two schools actually exist, and the argument of the former players was never about proving that the European method works better. Instead, when Durant suggested that the criticism was merely the result of racist tendencies, he was removing the actual logic behind the argument.

“He never said European players were better… I felt like when KD started going on this rant, it sounded a little reckless.. Black history should never be minimized to a month, it should be American history,” Williams explained.

KD, undoubtedly the series winner, may have really jumped the gun by injecting racism-related discourse into the discussion, with Williams simply pointing out that the difference between the two schools of basketball is there for all to see.