The Golden State Warriors winning their 4th championship this season and their 2nd without Kevin Durant has opened up a Pandora’s Box in the NBA in some ways. Durant got slandered quite a bit on social media after it happened, something he claimed didn’t affect him anymore, but then got into a bit of a beef with Charles Barkley who made some comments about Durant needing to win a championship as the ‘bus driver’.
Shaquille O’Neal stepped in to defend his Inside The NBA crewmate, but Durant had something to say about that as well. KD’s take that Barkley is just jealous of the money the current NBA players make has now gotten a response out of O’Neal as well, and it has somehow involved Shaq’s recurring beef with Rudy Gobert (via Sportskeeda):
“Let me tell you something, do you think I’m happy Rudy Gobert is making 250 (million)?” O’Neal said. “So KD, you’re absolutely right. We’re mad because the way we played we didn’t get that. You got these shooters shooting 22% making 30 million.
“D Scott shot damn near 45 to 50% his whole career and the most he made was probably $7 million, so you damn right we get mad. We get petty, and guess what? We have an opinion, and our opinion counts.”
It’s true that players in the NBA since the late 2000s make the sort of money that a lot of the stars of yesteryear simply couldn’t, thanks to how much the league has grown in part because of the efforts of those players. So a little bit of irritation on the behalf of the old heads is easy to understand, if not agree with.
However, the opinions on Durant that Barkley held are also widely believed by a number of people in the NBA. While it is true that fans should appreciate KD’s talents while he is still playing at a high level in the league, his move to Golden State will always be questioned unless he can win another championship as the undisputed best player on the team.
