NBA news latest 2015: Kevin Durant–Stephen A. Smith tussle far from over

Stephen A. Smith[photo: YouTube Screen Capture/rguy04]

It seems that the row involving Oklahoma City Thunder star player Kevin Durant and ESPN's Stephen A. Smith is far from settled.

To recall, Smith reported via "First Take" that Durant could consider joining the Los Angeles Lakers once he becomes a free agent in 2016, that is if ends up deciding to leave the Thunder.

The thing in that statement made by Smith is that he cited sources and never said that it came from Durant or any of the people around him.

Such came into play when Durant called Smith a liar and that he had not talked to Smith. But after that, Smith responded with a twitter message of his own, saying that Durant may have misconstrued the whole situation and has become too protective and/or sensitive with regards to the 2016 Free Agency plans.

But it seems that Smith is still miffed at being called a liar and it goes as far as seeing Smith saying that the last thing that Durant would want is to make an enemy out of him.

The coming season is, of course, the return year of Durant but above that, it was already a given that it won't be a smooth return.

With Durant bound to hit free agency in 2016, rumors about his possible NBA future came out as early as last season, although he sort of put a stop to it by saying that any word coming out with regards to his future not coming from him or his closest friends are not true.

But of course, that will not stop critics and writers from doing their share of speculations — Smith included.

For Durant, he may want to go with the flow. Being a high profile player, all the attention is undoubtedly on him. The more he reacts the more he adds fuel to the fire.

Perhaps he could do well to stay mum or read rumors carefully from here on?