Kevin Durant has an extended historical past of not having fun with being in second.
From being second greatest on his highschool group to being drafted second in 2007, he is recognized for saying he’s “uninterested in being second.” Maybe that is why he made time Tuesday to answer Charles Barkley’s feedback throughout a TruTV different broadcast of the All-Star Sport.
“No disrespect to Kevin. Kevin’s a follower. He isn’t a frontrunner. He is confirmed that on all his stops,” Barkley stated in the course of the sport. “[Devin] Booker’s a hell of a participant, additionally. I feel he’ll must take the initiative and take this Suns group to the following degree. … However I stated the identical factor with Boston: One in every of your guys has to step ahead, he has to step ahead, and for me, for Phoenix to achieve success, it must be Booker.”
Barkley has been vocal about Durant and his departures from groups. In an interview with CBS in March 2023, Barkley known as him “very delicate” and “a part of a era that may’t be criticized.”
In a wide-ranging interview for Boardroom — a platform owned by Durant — KD was requested by his agent, Wealthy Kleiman, about Barkley’s most up-to-date feedback and his picture within the league.
“I do not really feel like I would like individuals to name me a frontrunner, however I additionally don’t need individuals to say I am not one both, as a result of they do not 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 assist employees,” Durant stated.
He described these essential of his management as “not being conscious” of his management model.
On Wednesday, Suns coach Frank Vogel defended Durant on “Bickley & Marotta.”
“He undoubtedly leads by instance, however he additionally speaks up when he must,” he stated. “Not each participant goes to be a rah-rah sort,” Vogel stated. “Each participant leads in their very own manner. You must lead inside your character. I realized that as a coach a very long time in the past, that I can not are available and attempt to be Rick Pitino, as a lot as he impressed me to get into teaching. Our personalities are completely different.”
Durant’s character additionally got here up within the Boardroom interview, with Durant acknowledging why these questions on his model come up.
“I am not as charismatic as my friends; I haven’t got a character that is match for TV like my friends,” he stated. “You have to promote what you are doing as properly, and I have not offered it sufficient. I do not really feel like I must, I do not really feel like I would like individuals to name me a frontrunner, however I additionally do not feel like I would like individuals to say I am not one both.”
Durant additionally addressed the “best of all time” dialog and whether or not he must be amongst these talked about when GOAT discuss arises. Kleiman requested Durant about his consciousness of getting an “asterisk” subsequent to his identify in NBA historical past.
“I really feel like I’ve achieved issues on a courtroom and been in conditions that the best have seen, so I really feel like I can have a dialog about basketball with the Michael Jordans or the Kobe Bryant or the LeBron James, not about bragging about how a lot we have completed, however what did you see on the market, and did I see the identical issues.”