Germany basketball star Dennis Schröder previously made a statement regarding European basketball being more "IQ" driven when being compared to the NBA, which he seemingly believes is more about "entertainment."
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Dennis Schroder on why European basketball style provides a significant advantage to challenge Team USA:
'European basketball is no entertainment, it's straight IQ basketball. Straight coaching.' 🗣️ #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/9qTO58DFSx
— BasketNews (@BasketNews_com) August 10, 2024
With this in mind, after Team USA won the Olympic gold medal over France, Kevin Durant posted a celebratory post on X, which unequivocally was seen as a diss towards Schröder as he captioned it, "ENTERTAINMENT & IQ."
ENTERTAINMENT & IQ pic.twitter.com/2e9dopdrJi
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) August 11, 2024
Schröder, who came up short in the bronze medal game vs. Serbia, addressed this online back-and-forth during a Twitch stream and claimed that Durant was "being weak."
“that is just being weak, you are that type of star and have to say something to a person like me”
Dennis Schroder calling KD weak for trolling him but inadvertently dissing himself at the same time lmao pic.twitter.com/Dx7El5Vmux
— A ✩ (@adryanashton) August 19, 2024
"You're that type of a star, and you have to say something to a person like me who not even meant it to be negative," Schröder said. "It was just what I see from both sides, you know what I'm saying? I didn't appreciate it. I don't care, but at the end of the day, that tweet, or whatever he posted, was because of me. For me, it was never no negative stuff. I respect all of those guys, all GOATs, but to say that tells me how weak he is as a person."
In light of Schröder's original comments, he was making a point that European basketball is more team-driven, maybe nodding to the fact that coaches focus on the all-around game compared to the NBA, which many players will admit has been influenced by today's AAU's attention-seeking type of play.
Nevertheless, the U.S. won the championship, so Durant, as a four-time gold medal winner and America's Olympic all-time leading scorer, should be allowed to talk the talk.
Schröder's Brooklyn Nets will face off with Durant's Phoenix Suns on November 27 and January 22 during this upcoming 2024-25 NBA season.
Related: EuroLeague Head Coach Calls Out Boston Celtics For World Champion Title: 'Come Beat Us'
