Kevin Durant has responded to some pointed criticism from Charles Barkley. Barkley questioned Durant’s management throughout a TruTV different broadcast of the All-Star Sport.
“No disrespect to Kevin. Kevin’s a follower,” Barkley mentioned. “He’s not a frontrunner. He’s confirmed that on all his stops. [Devin] Booker’s a hell of a participant, additionally. I feel he’s going to should take the initiative and take this Suns workforce to the subsequent stage.
“… However I mentioned the identical factor with Boston: Certainly one of your guys has to step ahead, he has to step ahead, and for me, for Phoenix to achieve success, it must be Booker.”
Durant has since responded in an interview for Boardroom.
“I don’t really feel like I need individuals to name me a frontrunner, however I additionally don’t need individuals to say I’m not one both, as a result of they don’t see what goes on behind the scenes of what I speak about or my intentions or relationships that I’ve constructed with my teammates and my help employees,” Durant mentioned.
Suns head coach Frank Vogel has additionally defended Durant.
“He undoubtedly leads by instance, however he additionally speaks up when he must,” Vogel mentioned on Bickley & Marotta. “Not each participant goes to be a rah-rah kind. Each participant leads in their very own means.
“You need to lead inside your persona. I realized that as a coach a very long time in the past, that I can’t are available in and attempt to be Rick Pitino, as a lot as he impressed me to get into teaching. Our personalities are completely different.”
Barkley has lengthy been important of Durant. In an interview with CBS in March 2023, Barkley known as him “very delicate” and “a part of a technology that may’t be criticized.”
Durant is clearly bored with being known as out by Barkley, and it was solely a matter of time earlier than he clapped again.
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