Phoenix Suns: Kevin Durant says he 'probably wouldn't sit down with' Charles Barkley

Phoenix Suns superstar Kevin Durant respects Charles Barkley — the basketball player — but he’s made it clear over the years about his feeling towards him beyond that.

So, when Durant was asked after Wednesday’s practice what he’d say to the Hall of Famer considering their beef, Durant, with a smile, didn’t mince words.

“I probably wouldn’t sit down with Charles to be honest,” Durant said.

Barkley has called Durant a “great, great player” — both made the NBA 75 team — but Barkley has called Durant “very sensitive” as recent as a "60 Minutes" interview that aired late last month.

In reaction to the interview, Durant tweeted, “This ain’t gettin tiring chuck? I’ll never respect the words that come out ya mouth fam just deal with it.”

Barkley has also said Durant won’t get full respect from the “old heads” until he wins an NBA championship outside of the two he captured with Golden State in 2017 and 2018.

Durant and Barkley once had a friendly Zoom conversation in November 2021 that began with them talking about Durant giving a one-word answer to a Barkley question in December 2020 when he was with the Nets.

Q: “You know Kevin, there was talk about you coming back for the playoffs last year (Durant missed the entire 2018-19 season with an Achilles injury suffered in the 2019 finals). So, you really just been working on your game trying to get back your time and conditioning to be honest, correct?”

A: “Yeah.”

For subscribers: Charles Barkley and Kevin Durant are acting like kids. They need to stop it

Reminded about the Zoom video, Durant said he and Barkley have had “some good moments, cool moments,” but said “to the core” he respects “everything” Barkley brought to the game of basketball.

“I’ve tried to emulate all the greats in some form or fashion,” Durant continued. “I’ll never take away what he means to the game of basketball. I think we’re all cut from the same cloth. We’ve been through this journey.”

Basketball will always tie Durant and Barkley together. Now Durant is playing for the same franchise Barkley led to the 1993 finals, but they likely never bond beyond the game.

“We both played ball, both played in the NBA, both ‘superstar’ caliber players,” said Durant as he gave the ‘quotations’ sign when saying ‘superstar’ players with a smile.

“I’m sure we can relate on a lot of things in life. We’ve accomplished and experienced the same things in this league. I wouldn’t say we’re not on the same page. We may disagree on some stuff, but you watch TNT, those guys disagree every day, but to the core of it, we’re all ball players and we’ve been through the journey as ball players and I’d say we’re on the same page already.”

Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kevin Durant says he 'probably wouldn't sit down with' Charles Barkley