Kevin Durant defends LeBron James' decision to join the Philadelphia 76ers

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Like his previous decisions, it seems LeBron James has ruffled a lot of people's feathers with his choice to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers. This is not the first time he has done this because James was a free agent three separate times before this offseason.

However, the most prolific of those decisions was in 2010 when he had a televised special on ESPN aptly titled The Decision to join the Miami Heat. Another player who faced backlash from a free agency decision is Kevin Durant, who made sure to defend his rival's choice of team.

Kevin Durant comes to LeBron James' defense after his latest decision

Back in 2016, Durant was playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder. They were actually up 3-1 against the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals. Unfortunately for the rest of the league, Durant ended up joining that same Warriors team.

LeBron is involved in that story as well because he beat the Warriors, as he led the Cleveland Cavaliers to mount a 3-1 comeback of their own. Durant's decision was reminiscent of what happened six years earlier with James, and Durant has always been staunch in his defense of players making their decisions.

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The same can be said about this year because LeBron has joined the 76ers. It has irked a lot of people on social media because they feel that he's building a superteam of star players again, especially since he is on a cheaper $8 million contract over two years. Thankfully, a player is defending him, and that is Durant.

"Y'all be too emotional; how he moves is not getting in your way at all. How you feel don't change the truth about what he's produced as a basketball player. U don't know this man personally, but have personal disdain like he really messed your life up. U in too deep, my boy... LeBron embodies the game of basketball; I’m defending the game itself," Durant said to a user on Threads.

Durant has never backed down on this stance, as he wants more players to make their own decisions, as he did in 2016 and what LeBron has done over the past 16 years. It will be interesting to see how this turns out because the 76ers are likely title contenders now.