Kevin Durant talked about how India was “a country 20 years behind in knowledge and experience, cows and monkeys everywhere, and just a bunch of underprivileged people, wanting to learn basketball”.
Kevin Durant did apologise later on, saying that what he meant was “basketball knowledge” and that he had a great time in India. But the damage has been done:
Following is the full text of his remarks on India:
Q: First of all, India. You just got back. What was that like?
Kevin Durant: Um, it was a unique experience. I went with no expectation, no view on what it’s supposed to be like. I usually go to places where I at least have a view in my head. India, I’m thinking I’m going to be around palaces and royalty and gold — basically thought I was going to Dubai. Then when I landed there, I saw the culture and how they live and it was rough. It’s a country that’s 20 years behind in terms of knowledge and experience. You see cows in the street, monkeys running around everywhere, hundreds of people on the side of the road, a million cars and no traffic violations. Just a bunch of underprivileged people there and they want to learn how to play basketball. That s— was really, really dope to me.
Q: Was there a particular situation or person or thing that was eye-opening on the trip?
Kevin Durant: Yeah. As I was driving up to the Taj Mahal, like I said, I thought that this would be holy ground, super protected, very very clean. And as I’m driving up, it’s like, s—, this used to remind me of some neighborhoods I would ride through as a kid. Mud in the middle of the street, houses were not finished but there were people living in them. No doors. No windows. The cows in the street, stray dogs and then, boom, Taj Mahal, one of the seven wonders of the world. It’s like holy s—, this was built 500 years ago and everyone comes here. It’s just an eye-opener.
Kevin Durant’s remarks were of course, very ignorant and devoid of any kind of research. But then, a sportsperson is the last person one will seek for any kind of research. And basketball players are anyway, overgrown kids, outdone in tantrums only by NFL players.
No, Im not going to start a rant of whataboutery: – what about your gun violence, black ghettos, drug culture, rust belt, poor neighbourhoods, general ignorance of the local public, teen pregnancies etc etc. Neither am I going to do any personal remarks about the background he grew up in i.e. how black neighbourhoods are hell. This really makes the crappy lanes of Agra look like heaven in comparison, isn’t it?
These are but obvious facts. No need repeating them. What needs to be said here is the fact that he’s done an absolutely disastrous job of marketing the NBA. One doesn’t deride the target population to whom one wants to sell something. It’s not good salesmanship at all. Instead of being remembered for making a world record for holding the biggest basketball workshop for kids, his trip will be remembered for this statement of his. It’s also horrible manners to spit on someone’s hospitality.
But then, was Kevin Durant really off the mark in describing how most cities in India look like?
Cows in the street, sometimes monkeys running around, mud in the middle of the street, hundreds of people on the street, zero traffic sense, horrible driving. This is how most tier two cities in India look like. Agra is just an example of how most of north India looks like, a mostly unfit place for human habitation. The other parts of India aren’t too far behind, but they are atleast somewhat safer. Do we expect someone from better developed part of the world to come here and not be disgusted by it?
And Kevin Durant also thought that Taj Mahal would be clean. Ignorant fellow doesn’t know that we Indians have a birth right of keeping our country dirty and scribbling on the walls of heritage monuments. 
And most importantly, is there nothing else in India other than the overrated Taj Mahal? I Is Is there nothing beautiful in hundreds of watchable monuments/places in India that Indian tourism promotes nothing else internationally other than Taj Mahal and any dignitary or celebrity from abroad is compulsorily sent there? When compared to beautiful temples/mouments for example, in Khajuraho, Tanjore or Hampi, Taj Mahal looks ugly in comparison. An ugly monument built by an ugly debaucher of an ugly dynasty. And we expect the world to respect us for showing off proudly a monument built by invaders, a symbol of wastage and megalomania. We are a damaged people, really.
Seventy years after independence, have we asked ourselves that why do most of our towns look like ghettos? Why do our streets look like garbage dumps? Why do we drive like animals? Or why we can never follow any rules or regulations until and unless the law chases us with sticks? Or why countries which were poorer than us four decades ago are today developed and we still rot in our third-rate socialist hellhole, lagging behind in every human development criterion? Or why we have to spend crores of rupees in public ads telling people not to defecate in the fields or the roads? Is living like humans that difficult? And why do we get angry when someone points this out?
Our reply to any foreigner who makes such remarks: Do you know ancient India was so advanced and we invented this and we built this and blah blah blah…
Yes, ancient India was advanced. And beautiful. But we cant live in past glories. Comparing today’s Hindus with ancient Hindus is like comparing a crow with an eagle. We have failed our ancestors and make no effort to regain their glory other than naming roads and institutes after them.
On our seventieth independence day, we are still lagging behind countries that four decades ago were much poorer than us. There is no Delhi or Deccan sultanate now, nor any Mughals. We have completed seven decades of being free from the British Raj. There is no one else to blame now, but ourselves. If we cant even get basics of civilized human society right, ie , habitable cities, clean surroundings, good life for citizens, good childhood for our children, respecting our heritage, integrity and honesty in public & private life etc, then we have no right to be respected by anyone.We will have to take a lot of disrespect before we can finally build a nation worthy of respect. Its difficult, but not impossible.
