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Reading: Stephen A. Smith Defends Kevin Durant After Charles Barkley Disrespected Him
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Home > NBA News & Analysis > Stephen A. Smith Defends Kevin Durant After Charles Barkley Disrespected Him

Stephen A. Smith Defends Kevin Durant After Charles Barkley Disrespected Him

Stephen A. Smith defended Kevin Durant after Charles Barkley had called him sensitive.

Gautam Varier
Apr 4, 2023
3 Min Read
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Credit: Fadeaway World

Charles Barkley and Kevin Durant were at it again recently, after the Hall of Famer claimed that Durant is sensitive.

Barkley’s comments led to KD firing back at him by stating he’d never respect anything that comes out of his mouth. Stephen A. Smith has now chimed in on the situation and he is siding with Durant here.

“So when my man, my brother, my friend Charles Barkley goes on the air and he says Kevin Durant is too sensitive – well, yes,” Smith said on his Know Mercy podcast. “But he has a right to be, especially when you call him a bus rider, as Charles Barkley did.”

Barkley famously used that bus rider analogy on Durant, stating that he wasn’t the one driving the bus when he was with the Golden State Warriors and Durant had ripped him for it last month. Smith disagreed with Barkley’s opinion and said he won’t disrespect Durant.

“I still think it’s kind of wrong to call KD that. Basically riding the coattails of Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. They rode him too. It ain’t like they didn’t want him, or go to Long Island to beg him to come to the Bay Area. You ain’t doing that for no bus rider. I’m not disrespecting Kevin Durant that way.”

(starts at 28:19 mark):

As Smith says, the Warriors desperately wanted him to join and they ultimately relied on him to get them over the line in those two NBA Finals. Smith also understands why Durant reacts in the manner he does, as he would be offended by the disrespect coming his way.


Jay Williams Had An Issue With Charles Barkley Calling Kevin Durant Sensitive

Some former players have taken shots at Barkley for going after Durant, with Gilbert Arenas saying that Barkley used to respond in a similar manner when he was criticized during his playing career. He added that some of the old heads forget who they were at a younger age.

Jay Williams also came to the defense of Durant and today’s players, in general. Williams pointed to how Michael Jordan refuses to speak to Barkley to this day, just because he had criticized Jordan for the way he ran the Charlotte franchise. He feels players from all generations can be accused of being sensitive, which is true,

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TAGGED:Charles BarkleyKevin DurantStephen A. Smith
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ByGautam Varier
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Gautam Varier is a staff writer and columnist for Fadeaway World from Mumbai, India. He graduated from Symbiosis International University with a Master of Business specializing in Sports Management in 2020. This educational achievement enables Gautam to apply sophisticated analytical techniques to his incisive coverage of basketball, blending business acumen with sports knowledge.Before joining Fadeaway World in 2022, Gautam honed his journalistic skills at Sportskeeda and SportsKPI, where he covered a range of sports topics with an emphasis on basketball. His passion for the sport was ignited after witnessing the high-octane offense of the Steve Nash-led Phoenix Suns. Among the Suns, Shawn Marion stood out to Gautam as an all-time underrated NBA player. Marion’s versatility as a defender and his rebounding prowess, despite being just 6’7”, impressed Gautam immensely. He admired Marion’s finishing ability at the rim and his shooting, despite an unconventional jump shot, believing that Marion’s skill set would have been even more appreciated in today’s NBA.This transformative experience not only deepened his love for basketball but also shaped his approach to sports writing, enabling him to connect with readers through vivid storytelling and insightful analysis.
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