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Although the NBA season is still a few months away, Dennis Schroder has managed to create some offseason buzz by clashing with Kevin Durant, sparking a lively debate within the basketball community.
During the post-game press conference after 's loss to Serbia in the Bronze Medal game at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Schroder praised the strategic and intelligent style of European basketball, emphasizing that the sport is rapidly advancing in Europe and predicting that European teams will soon be on par with those from the United States.
"European basketball is no entertainment," Schroder claimed. "It's straight IQ basketball, straight coaching, and really, really high IQ guys who know how to play the game. Serbia, Greece, Spain, , , so many teams out there who know how to play, is athletic, and I think there's a lot of people from Europe in the NBA who make some noise... Europeans are coming for sure."
Shortly after Team USA claimed the gold medal with an undefeated record, Kevin Durant took to social media to respond. He posted a photo of the victorious Team USA, captioning it with "ENTERTAINMENT & IQ," a not-so-subtle retort to Schroder's earlier praise of European basketball.
Schroder's response
Yet, Schroder didn't stay silent. He quickly responded, criticizing Durant for his online behavior, particularly given his stature as an NBA icon.
Schroder clarified that his original comments were not meant to disparage American basketball but were simply insights from someone who has experienced both the European and American styles of play. He expressed disappointment that Durant chose to take offense and turn it into a public dig.
"They won and then Kevin Durant tweeted, 'High IQ and entertaining.' For me, that's just being weak," he noted. "That type of a star and you have to say something to a person like me who didn't even mean it to be negative, it's just what I see from both sides. I didn't appreciate it."