Kevin Durant defended his Golden State Warriors teammate, Javale McGee.

Shaquille O’Neal has been continuously making fun of McGee on his Shaqtin’ a Fool segment on Inside the NBA on TNT. Shaq claimed that McGee started the beef but has been obscure about the origins of their beef. Durant stuck up for his teammate.

“JaVale, he works extremely hard. He’s come in here and done so much for us as a player. And he only wants to be respected like any other player, ” said Durant. “And I understand Shaq works for a company that wants him to do that type of stuff and make fun of players. And it’s cool and funny, but when you just keep doing it time and time and time again for no reason, and then a guy actually disagrees you and you threaten him … I didn’t know cops could threaten civilians like that. So it’s definitely childish. But that’s what they want from these stars and these retired players — to feud with the guys that’s playing now and to make arguments and disagreements. But if I was JaVale, I’d feel the same way. It’s childish. Shaq wants to make a joke about it, but if it was him in that position, he wouldn’t feel the same way. He’ll call him a bum and all this. He was such a great player, obviously, but still, everybody can’t be Shaq. He’s trying to make his money and enjoy the game of basketball, and the perception is now that he’s a dumb player because he made mistakes.”