1. The media coddled him
2. Russ was his shield.
The one time a media person did go after him, (the infamous, ‘Mr. Unreliable’ headline), Russ and to an extent, KD, pretty much froze Berry Tramel out (it turned out, Tramel wrote the article, but the editor added the headline.

KD was depicted as a good, quiet hope, in OKC. He visited neighborhoods that were ravaged by the tornado outbreak, had charities and restaurants in the city. It wasn’t til after he left that the internet arguing and stuff started popping up. Still think, to a degree, he was that dude. He got ultra defensive after the move to GS, because he knew what the popular opinion was about it.