Kevin Durant on Burner Accounts: 'Wanted a Place' to Talk to Friends Privately

Golden State Warriors star Kevin Durant has provided some insight into his creation and use of burner accounts on social media. 

During an episode of The Boardroom on ESPN+, Durant said he made the accounts to "have a place where I can talk to my friends without anybody just butting in my conversations" or taking his words out of context. 

The legend of Durant's burner accounts started in September 2017 when he responded to a fan's Twitter question about leaving the Oklahoma City Thunder using a third-person point of view from his official account:

Durant called his criticisms of the Thunder and head coach Billy Donovan "childish" and "idiotic" during an appearance at Tech Crunch shortly after the revelations:

In a GQ profile written by Zach Baron two months later, Durant denied having a second Twitter account:

"The Internet was alive with a gleeful debate about whether Durant had a second, secret Twitter account. That wasn't the case, he told me. He did write the posts, but on his own account, he said. He described it as a dissociative episode: He woke up from a nap, and 'it just felt like I was on the outside looking in at a conversation. I had to walk in and just be like, 'Nah.'"

Durant's presence on social media now largely consists of him tweeting about his various business ventures and occasional Instagram posts about good performances from his teammates.

The controversy hasn't had any impact on Durant's NBA career. He's been named MVP of the last two NBA Finals, leading the Warriors to titles in both seasons.