Getty Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant
NBA legend Charles Barkley ripped Phoenix Suns star small forward Kevin Durant during an interview with Jon Wertheim of CBS.
Barkley called Durant “very sensitive.”
“He’s very sensitive,” Barkley said about Durant. “Great player. He’s part of that generation who think he can’t be criticized. He’s never looked in the mirror and said, ‘Man, was that a fair criticism?’”
Barkley has called Durant “sensitive” multiple times over the past few years. Durant told reporters on April 12 that he probably won’t ever sit down with Barkley to squash their beef.
Barkley, who won the 1992-93 regular-season MVP with the Suns, told Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson on the “All The Smoke” podcast in February that Durant has to win a title without the Golden State Warriors to “get the old heads’ respect.” Durant joined the Warriors in the summer of 2016 after the Dubs won an NBA record 73 games during the 2015-16 regular season.
Golden State won back-to-back championships in 2017 and 2018, with Durant winning both Finals MVPs.
“KD is a great, great player. He is a great, great player.” Barkley said about Durant. “He’s sensitive, 100% sensitive. But what I said and I’ll stick by it: KD is a great, great player, but he’s going to have to win a championship without the Warriors to get the old heads’ respect.”
Durant only won one postseason series with the Brooklyn Nets before requesting a trade and getting traded to the Suns. Phoenix beat the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the 2023 playoffs in five games but lost to the Denver Nuggets in the second round in six games.
Kevin Durant & Charles Barkley Are Both NBA Icons
Durant has career averages of 27.3 points, 7.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Warriors, Nets and Suns. He’s a 13-time All-Star, four-time scoring champion, one-time regular-season MVP, two-time champion and two-time Finals MVP. Durant will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer one day.
Meanwhile, Barkley is already in the Hall of Fame. He averaged 22.1 points and 11.7 rebounds during his legendary career with the Philadelphia 76ers, Suns and Houston Rockets. Barkley made 11 All-Star teams and 11 All-NBA teams.
Suns’ Bradley Beal Sends Strong Warning to NBA Teams
New Suns guard Bradley Beal, who has never gotten past the second round of the playoffs in his NBA career, is excited to compete for a championship next season.
The Florida product told Deyscha “Sway” Smith of SLAM Magazine that the Suns are going to be “hungry” in 2023-24.
“Expect a very fun team to be playing in Arizona this year,” Beal said. “The Phoenix Suns will be hungry. We’ll be very aggressive, but it’ll be a very fun style of play that every fan will love—love to tune in to watch. So, we can’t wait. We’re excited. We have a lot of very talented guys, so we’re excited about it.”
The Suns have a Big 4 of Beal, Durant, Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton. Frank Vogel, who won the 2020 championship with the Los Angeles Lakers, replaced Monty Williams as head coach.
Beal averaged 23.2 points, 3.9 rebounds and 5.4 assists last season in 50 games while shooting 50.6% from the field, 36.5% from beyond the arc and 84.2% from the free-throw line.