"KD's been in vacation for over a month and he's still out here catching strays", "And KD knows it himself which is why he left Golden State" - Fans don't hold back after Kevin Durant goes after Charles Barkley for Barkley's comments about his legacy
With the end of the 2022 Finals, the offseason is in full swing, and so is the talk about Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets.
Kevin Durant's legacy came into question after the Warriors won their second title without him, equaling their record with him. Durant is also easy to elicit a response out of, especially on Twitter. He quote-tweeted:
I been dead since July 4th 2016, but congrats to the dubs and my boy Steezy, a Fillmore legend, man been waitin his whole life for a parade on market st. twitter.com/feltbot/status…
July 4, 2016, was the infamous day when Durant decided to sign with the Golden State Warriors. That decision has been an irreplaceable part of his life since.
Hall of Famer Charles Barkley commented on Durant's legacy on ESPN's "Get Up," saying:
"Until he is the guy on a championship, we’re not going to ever give him the respect that he probably deserves. The game hasn’t changed. Kobe said it, LeBron said it, we’re going to hold him to the same high standard."
.@CJMcCollum is disagreeing with Charles Barkley's take on Kevin Durant needing to earn respect from the old heads by winning a title as the bus driver.
“[Kevin Durant] was the bus driver of that team. … His resume speaks for himself. There’s no blemishes on it.” https://t.co/RAbay2toRy
Unsurprisingly, Durant took to Twitter to respond:
All this shit is nasty, another terrible analogy from a hatin old head that can’t accept that we making more bread than them. It’s just timing Chucky, don’t hate the playa twitter.com/getupespn/stat…
r/NBA reacted to the dumpster fire that is now the Barkley-Durant tussle, sending in their responses:
Kevin Durant's departure from the Golden State Warriors has left him with one conference semifinal appearance and one first-round sweep to show for.
Why is Kevin Durant's decision in 2016 always under heavy criticism?
Kevin Durant's legacy was not transfixed around the one decision he made on July 4, 2016. Stephen Curry's legacy wasn't irrevocably dependent on him blowing a 3-1 lead six years ago. LeBron James didn't cease to be a great player because he decided to move to South Beach in 2010.
It is often better to talk in hindsight to assess the quality of these decisions. LeBron won two championships in Miami with Wade and Bosh, and Curry brought Durant to the Bay, where they won back-to-back championships.
In each of these cases, the players got what they wanted: championships. So why are these decisions so vehemently criticized, and why are we subject to such severe recency bias?
Durant made the playoffs six times (one finals appearance) before he came to the Bay. LeBron spent seven seasons with the Cavs (one finals appearance) before he went to Miami. Stephen Curry brought on Durant only after suffering a historic defeat in the NBA finals.
So, in hindsight, these decisions were perfectly sound and resulted in the desired outcome.
As we move into the fourth year of Durant's departure from the Warriors, he couldn't have predicted the Nets' current predicament back in 2019.