'Mr Miserable': Charles Barkley says Kevin Durant will 'never be happy' despite having everything
The Brooklyn Nets may have come to an agreement with Kevin Durant, but NBA analyst Charles Barkley still believes the All-Star forward is never happy and has branded him "Mr Miserable."
Basketball fans who have watched Barkley's raw takes on the current state of the game know that he doesn't sugarcoat anything. But while his rather blunt approach can be entertaining for viewers at home, it sometimes tends to rub people the wrong way. Barkley, who has criticized Durant's performance in the past couple of months, didn't hold back while expressing his displeasure with the player during a recent interview.
RELATED ARTICLES
'Swagger': 5 things about basketball drama based on the early life of Kevin Durant
During an appearance on the 'Bickley & Marotta' radio program on Arizona Sports Thursday, August 25, Barkley said Durant is the type of person who cannot be pleased. “He seems like a miserable person, man. I call him Mr Miserable, he’s never going to be happy. Everybody’s given him everything on a silver platter,” Barkley said. “He was the man in Oklahoma City, they loved him, he owned the entire state. He bolts on them and wins back-to-back championships [with Golden State], and he’s still not happy. Then he goes to Brooklyn, they give him everything he wants and he’s still miserable.”
"I call him Mr. Miserable, he's never going to be happy."
— 98.7 Arizona Sports (@AZSports) August 25, 2022
Charles Barkley joined @Bickley_Marotta this morning and talked about what retired #NBA players think about Kevin Durant. @Vincemarotta @danbickley @KDTrey5
Read more: https://t.co/50uLt0HHKW pic.twitter.com/KHRcLBUNGq
Durant, 33, who averaged 29.9 points, 7.4 rebounds, and a career-high 6.4 assists per game last season, is set to be paired once again with All-Star Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons. Considering, the Nets will be considered title contenders again. The Nets have latched their hopes for a first NBA title on Durant, who they expect to fulfill the four-year, $198 million extension he signed last August that kicks in this upcoming season. However, 11-time All-Star Barkley isn't convinced that Durant has what it takes to lead a team to an NBA championship.
The Hall of Famer said Durant "piggybacked" his way to two NBA titles with the help of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green during his stint with the Warriors after spending his first nine seasons with the Thunder. “If you go back and look at his career, as the best player and being the leader that all goes with that, he’s been an abject failure,” Barkley added.
Durant and Barkley have been feuding for some time now. It all started after the Nets were eliminated from the NBA Playoffs in the first round itself, especially after pundits had pegged them as one of the favorites to win it all. The 'Inside the NBA' cast gave their two cents about the team underperforming in the playoffs. Barkley suggested that championships should only count as a measure of greatness if a player has led their team to that title, otherwise they should be seen as "bus riders" the same as players who never rode it.
TOP STORIES
Responding to the thinly-veiled attack, the Slim Reaper started posting stories of Barkley playing for the Houston Rockets with Hakeem Olajuwon and Scottie Pippen in 1999. He then posted a snap of Barkley with Tandem and Clyde Drexler. He also posted one where Barkley was in the Sixers alongside Julius Erving, Moses Malone, and Maurice Cheeks, writing, "Where would chuck be without the big homies." Barkley has maintained that the Rockets were a bunch of old players "way past their prime" and that he should've retired before joining that time.
Durant did not stop there. He took to Twitter and called himself a "God" against an "army of producers." 'Inside the NBA' host Ernie Johnson, subsequently asked the panel -- consisting of Shaquille O'Neal, Kenny Smith, and Charles Barkley -- if they saw anything interesting on the internet. Firing back at the social media posts, Barkley called Durant a "Sensitive Cindy" and a "God who is sitting at home with a play-in banner."