Kevin Durant cares about what people think of him. Derrick Rose does not.
Durant listens to the outside “noise,’’ as players and coaches refer to public opinion. Rose does not.
It’s impossible to say that there’s a direct cause and effect between Durant’s bad habit of paying attention to social media and the torn Achilles he suffered in Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Monday. And it would be silly to say that Durant’s misfortune proves that Rose was right not to listen to critics who screamed for his return during the 2013 playoffs after he had sat out the Bulls’ regular season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament.