TNT analyst and Hall of Famer Charles Barkley believes that Kevin Durant needs to be the leader of a championship-winning team in order to prove that he's on the same level as LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and the other greatest players of all time. When pressed on this idea during an appearance on “First Take” Monday, Barkley noted that James said he had to win a championship without Dwyane Wade to get the respect of “old heads.”
Durant responded to Barkley on social media, unconvinced that James actually made such a claim about his own legacy. Is Durant right? Did LeBron James ever say he needed to win a title without Dwyane Wade to earn respect?
I don’t remember bron saying this…somebody link me to the article https://t.co/Ze3z7b9vN2
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) February 27, 2023
There doesn't seem to be any evidence that James publicly said winning a ring without Wade on his team was a requirement to get the respect that he deserved. It's possible that Barkley is recounting a private conversation. Maybe he misremembered James' previous comments about Wade and becoming an NBA champion.
James has stressed the importance of teaming up with Wade in 2010, who finally helped him get over the hump and win a championship. James and Wade made four straight NBA Finals appearances and won two rings in Miami.
“To accomplish what I really wanted to accomplish in this league, and that’s winning at the highest level, I needed him,” James said of Wade after the former teammates played each other for the final time in 2018. “And that’s when I made the jump, and I appreciate more than I can express in words what he did for me when I went down to Miami.”
James left the Heat in 2014 and led the Cleveland Cavaliers to a title in 2016. James won a championship with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020, further cementing his legacy.
Barkley also noted that Kobe Bryant expressed the same sentiment about his legacy in regard to Shaquille O'Neal. Bryant did in fact say that he needed to win titles without O'Neal to shut his critics up.
“So it was important for me and Shaq to go separate ways because I didn’t want people to use that against me — they still do — but it was important that I win championships without him,” Bryant told the Players' Tribune in 2019.
Whether Durant likes it or not, Barkley and others will penalize Durant if he fails to win a championship outside of his time with the Golden State Warriors. Durant was named the Finals MVP for both title runs with the Warriors. Golden State was still viewed as Stephen Curry's team, and the Warriors won a championship before Durant arrived and after he left.
Durant has an opportunity to answer Barkley and other critics with the Phoenix Suns.
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