For years, Charles Barkley has gotten into modern-day NBA players‘ faces. His hot takes are sometimes true, but he’s also made some ‘get out of my lawn’ old-head kind of comments that don’t always rub guys the right way.
Notably, he’s got a bit of a feud with Kevin Durant, calling him a ‘bus rider’ and stating that he’s failed as a leader everywhere he’s played. KD isn’t the one to mince his words or just stay silent, so he usually claps back rather promptly.
That happened again on Monday night when a clip of the Hall of Famer calling Durant out again went viral, as he tried to explain why he’s never going to be on Kobe Bryant‘s or LeBron James’ level.
Kevin Durant Hits Back At Charles Barkley With A Hilarious Response
“Kevin gets mad at me when I point this out but if you go back and look at LeBron, he said he had to win a championship without Dwayne (Wade) to get respect,” Barkley told Stephen A. Smith. “Kobe Bryant said it too – he had to win a championship without Shaquille O’Neal.”
“I hold Kevin Durant to the same criteria,” Barkley added.”He’s an all-time great, but when it comes to being mentioned with these other guys, he has to win a championship where he is the leader of the team and the best player.”
Unsurprisingly, these comments quickly made their way to KD, who hilariously asked people to send him a link to the article where LeBron actually said that he had to win without Wade to get some respect.
James might not have said that, but Kobe sure did. Also, and even though Barkley is also a bit of a hater, he did have a valid point about Durant failing to lead a team to a championship away from Golden State:
“Everywhere else he has been, he hasn’t been successful,” Barkley said. “And that is the standard I hold him to. If he wants to be on a level with LeBron and Kobe and those guys, he is going to have to be the best player and leader.The stress that goes with being the leader of a team is a big deal. Role-players don’t have to play good; they get no blame.”
At the end of the day, KD can always rub his two rings on Barkley’s face, and you know he’s never going to be held accountable or accept any sort of wrongdoing; his ego just won’t allow it.
As for Barkley, he’s made some great points about today’s players sitting out and being spoiled millionaires with no disregard or respect for the fans, but maybe talking about leading a team to a ring isn’t his cup of tea.
