Ever heard of using hate comments as a source of motivation? Look no more, Kevin Durant gracefully embraces negative trolls with the same intensity he shows on the court. Remember when he once confessed, “Hate drives me. Too much love will kill you.” And now, Durant revealed the hilarious reason behind his relentless replies. Turns out, trading jabs with haters is Durant’s version of a caffeine kick. Even 5x Olympic medalist Gabby Thomas couldn’t help but laugh at Durant’s unapologetically savage morning routine.

On October 18, the two-time NBA champion dropped a video where he was seen firing back at everyone on his X handle, from trolls to disappointed fans. He didn’t hold back, engaging with each of them in his usual style. The reason – He just enjoys turning his trolls into a punchline. As he put it, “When I can’t get that dopamine hit from the game, I’m definitely getting it from Twitter. A lot of people want my attention, but I don’t think they truly want my attention. So I put them on a big screen so they realize — you get a little bit of fame, slick, to understand how it’s cracked up to be.”

He further added, “Especially when I’m in rehab or at an age where I wake up at 8 and go see Twitter, I see someone’s too edgy, I blow right back, too edgy. That’s like my coffee in the morning. People come here who’ve never picked up a basketball, never run full speed in their life, never worked hard before,  and they tell you how to approach the game.” His attitude toward trolls didn’t go unnoticed, as Gabby Thomas reposted the clip on X, adding a playful jab, “People who never ran full speed in their life” oohmyg.”

Thomas herself has dealt with her fair share of online hate on multiple occasions. Back in August, the three time Olympic gold medalist called out the issue on X, asking, “Why are there so many anonymous troll accounts on Twitter now? What happened to this app?”

In one of her tweets, she wrote, “When I graduated from college, I came into this sport sooo naive. After six years, I just want better for athletes. We deserve it. My goal is to leave this sport better than I found it🤞🏽.” A powerful statement, filled with purpose, a call to uplift and protect the future of track and field. No drama, no negativity, just pure intent.

But then, you look at the comment section, and that’s where things take a turn. “Gabby cut it out. We know the real you,” one user commented, while many others mentioned her missed drug tests from 2020. The comment section erupted in a storm of accusations, with many claiming that she had lied about her education at Harvard. In a detailed post, Thomas hit back, calling out the racist undertone behind such assumptions. She made it clear that the disbelief stemmed from one thing: that as an African-American woman, people couldn’t fathom her graduating from an Ivy League school.

She isn’t the only one facing online backlash. Noah Lyles’s fiancée, Jamaican sprinter Junelle Bromfield, also came under fire after Lyles’ 100m gold-medal victory over Kishane Thompson in Paris last year. When Lyles revealed that Bromfield had shared some behind-the-scenes details about the Jamaican training camps, critics quickly branded her a “traitor.”

But Bromfield didn’t stay silent. Clapping back at her trolls, she said, “Honestly, I would say I’m not looking for forgiveness, especially from the people who came in my DM, talking about my family, talking about my mom. Those are the people asking for forgiveness, and I’m like, How are you going to forgive somebody who did not do anything?”  

Be it Gabby Thomas, Junelle Bromfield, or even Kevin Durant, no one is immune to online hate. It’s a storm every public figure faces, and not everyone weathers it the same way. Well, X is quite unhinged, but it doesn’t come close when it comes to TikTok.

Gabby Thomas’ honest opinion on social media trolling

After the initial episode on X, the athlete stood her ground, but it really affected her perception of reality. The rise of social media has made public figures like her increasingly vulnerable to widespread and anonymous criticism. “TikTok genuinely scares me when I think about the future of social media and how people interact,” said the athlete.

She further addded, “The discourse there is so harsh—it’s like compassion disappeared. The only option now is to face reality: some people online are just going to be mean and nasty, and that’s not about me.” Thomas pointed out that true criticism doesn’t come from peers or those thriving in their own lives. Well, despite the constant scrutiny, Thomas kept an optimistic perspective and added, “I like social media,” she admitted. “I love Twitter jokes. I love memes. I love TikToks.”

Her goal is to have a healthy relationship with the internet. Athletes often face immense hate for their actions, which can affect their mental well-being. Many athletes have ways to cope with it, and Durant’s approach appears to be quite effective, don’t you think?