Former NBA star Shawn Marion hit back at Kevin Durant’s “cocky” and “arrogant” comments regarding the United States’ superiority over other basketball nations.

Durant, the US’ all-time leading scorer, told a podcast recently that rivals “can’t compete”.

“For people to give them credit for just being in a close game with us shows that they ain’t even, can’t compete. We created basketball,” the Phoenix Suns forward said. “We’ve been dominating these dudes for this whole time. And they finally get closer than 20 points and now you’re saying they are catching up, nah.”

However, speaking exclusively to the Post at the NBA Lunar New Year celebration event in Hong Kong, league ambassador Marion dismissed the comments, citing the fact the recent best player awards have been won by non-Americans.

“Basketball is such a global sport and is growing continuously, the crazy thing is, the last six MVPs [Most Valuable Players] have not been Americans,” he said. “So think about what you’re just saying. I think it’s going to be another foreign MVP this year.

“Kevin Durant is one of the most skilled players, I got so much love and respect for him, but of course, that saying was very cocky, very arrogant.”