'Immaturity': NBA great called out over high schooler criticism

An eighth grade student in America has responded after Brooklyn Nets star and former NBA MVP Kevin Durant retweeted a clip of him playing, only to insult him.

A clip of 13-year-old Jaylen Moore attempted an admittedly excessively flashy behind the back, step-back shot circulated among fans earlier this week.

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The clip caught the attention of Durant who, as a self-styled basketball connoisseur, re-posted the clip along with the caption 'this s**t stinks'.

Durant's post attracted nearly 20,000 re-tweets and hundreds of thousands of likes, but some have felt it was a little harsh for arguably the best player on the planet to so harshly criticise a teenager.

It wasn't just Durant who was unimpressed with the move either.

Isiah Thomas, an NBA veteran who was recently signed by the Los Angeles Lakers, described it as 'horrible basketball' in a tweet of his own.

The teenage point. guard at the centre of the furore said he didn't understand why Durant had felt the need to be so harsh.

"Like, what made him take time out of his day to say something negative instead of encouraging me or telling what really needs to be done and then texting me privately or something like that," Moore said.

Funnily enough, the clip in question was actually shot a couple of years ago, when Moore was in the sixth grade.

He only attempted the move when his school team was winning by 50, to settle a $10 bet with his father as to whether he could pull it off without being called for a travel.

Moore had earlier seen someone else attempt the move on Instagram.

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Durant later defended his criticism of the youngster, pointing out that his comment was 'about habits' rather than a personal shot.

Nevertheless, Moore's mother Valeta told USA Today that she almost felt inclined to weigh in herself.

"I was going to (tweet), 'Why’s KD being so mean? It’s the week of Christmas.'" she said.

Despite that, the family have used the furore as a teaching moment, deciding to concentrate on the constructive element of Durant's criticism.

Moore's high school coach Ken Novak still felt it was somewhat unneccesary for multiple NBA players to jump on the clip, even if there was no doubt it was a bad shot.

"There’s almost an immaturity with them to take the time to even go on Twitter and look at that (video) and comment," he said.

"In fairness to them, I’m sure they’re trying to create what they see as better basketball, people sharing. And maybe they’re making a comment trying to say that.

"But they just got to realise who they’re saying it to."

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