NBA star Kevin Durant has savaged ex-NFL players who are now paid to offer their ‘hot takes’ on basketball, accusing them of ‘ruining the sport’.
The Phoenix Suns forward took aim at Emmanuel Acho after the former linebacker offered his two cents on the Celtics-Knicks playoff series.
Acho, who earlier this year was embroiled in a bombshell sex lawsuit involving several Fox Sports stars, posted a clip of his analysis from talk show ‘The Facility’.
But his comments sparked a furious reaction from Durant, who attacked Acho and other ‘football guys’ on social media.
‘Hot take artist have ruined the sport. Football guys, no disrespect but yall boys need to stay In ya lanes,’ Durant wrote on X. ‘U don’t know what it’s like it between these lines man give it a break. Dudes who quit football early to pursue media talkin mental toughness, cut it out.’
Acho had tried to argue that the Celtics ‘match up better against the Knicks without Jayson Tatum than they do with him’.
Kevin Durant launched a savage attack on ex-NFL players offering ‘hot takes’ on basketball
The Phoenix Suns superstar took aim at Emmanuel Acho, the former NFL linebacker
Tatum is a six-time All-Star who led the Celtics to an NBA championship in 2024. He is ranked – by the NBA’s own ‘player impact estimate’ – to be the most important star in the league.
But Tatum suffered a ruptured Achilles in Game 4 of the series, which the Knicks lead 3-2 heading into game six.
Nevertheless, Acho claimed that in ‘two minutes’ he could ‘show you something you may have missed’ and ‘convince you exactly why’.
Earlier this year, FS1 host Joy Taylor was accused of using sexual relationships with Acho and network executive Charlie Dixon to further her career, according to the bombshell lawsuit.
Taylor, Dixon, former FS1 host Skip Bayless and the Fox Corporation were all named in lawsuit filed on behalf of ex-FS1 stylist, Noushin Faraji.
Much of the suit focused on allegations of sexual harassment, sexual battery, negligent supervision, retaliation and other hostile workplace issues between 2012 and August of 2024. Bayless is accused of offering $1.5million to Faraji for sex, while Dixon is accused of groping the stylist’s buttocks.
Faraji also claimed that Taylor leveraged sex to advance her career – first with Dixon and then with Acho.
Back in February, Bayless and Taylor both denied the accusations, while attorneys for Fox Sports asked for the case to be dismissed ‘in its entirety.’ According to reports last month, talks had begun over a possible settlement.
