The entire basketball community is reacting to the comments made by Giannis Antetokounmpo after the All-Star break concluded. Reiterating himself, Giannis stressed the fact that the Milwaukee Bucks are Damian Lillard’s team. As Charles Barkley recently pointed out Kevin Durant’s inability to be a leader, Gilbert Arenas is curious to learn what the TNT analyst thinks of Antetokounmpo’s statements.
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Giannis Antetokounmpo put his selflessness to show once he claimed that Damian Lillard, who was only acquired this past off-season, was the leader of the Milwaukee Bucks. Antetokounmpo was upfront about the fact that Lillard would be calling the shots during the final stretch of the game.
“Like I’ve been saying this over and over again. This. Is. His. Team. Down the stretch, he’s going to get the ball. There’s nothing else that we will do. I don’t know how else to put it. I don’t know what else to say. But at the end of the day, he has to believe it, too,” Giannis said.
On the latest episode of Gil’s Arena, host Josiah Johnson asked the panel members about their opinions on the comments. Gilbert Arenas, who was the first to react, simply stated that he was curious to learn Barkley’s opinions after the Greek Freak handed over his team to Dame.
Arenas said, “I wanna know what Chares Barkley gonna say about that. I just wanna ask because he clearly said he is not the leader by saying this is his (Damian Lillard) team. He just gave his team to a whole another person. So is that considered you’re not a leader?”
Charles Barkley recently ripped apart the Phoenix Suns star’s leadership qualities. Considering that Giannis has anointed Lillard as the new leader of the squad, Arenas wants to know whether Barkley thought the same about Antetokounmpo
Charles Barkley recently ripped apart Kevin Durant for his leadership qualities. Now, it seems as though Gilbert Arenas is making jokes about the altercation between the two by wanting to know Barkley’s opinions on Giannis’ comments. Admittedly, it is hard to blame him, especially considering how far Barkley can go with some of his takes. That said, it really would be interesting to see what Barkley’s take is on this situation.
Charles Barkley criticizes Kevin Durant’s leadership
During the All-Star Game, while being present on the Alternate Cast, Charles Barkley took shots at Kevin Durant. At one point of the exhibition game, Sir Charles stated that KD was unable to be a leader and has proven to be a “follower” at every stage of his career.
“Kevin [Durant] is a follower. He’s not a leader. He’s proven that on all of his stop,” Barkley said.
As expected, Kevin Durant responded to the Hall-Of-Famer’s criticism. Choosing to ignore Chuck’s statements, the Slim Reaper simply stated that he didn’t respect anyone’s opinions and that didn’t share the court with him.
“A lot of people that’s on TV, that don’t ever come to the gym or ever come to the games… They not in here. It’s just part of TV. They needed something to fill a segment up. So they talk about some negative shit, but if you’re not in the gym, I don’t respect your opinion if you’re not in the gym with me,” KD clapped back at Barkley.
This wasn’t the first time that the two superstars have had a war of words.
Back in 2022, The Round Mound of Rebound called out KD for being a “passenger” and not the “bus driver” during his stint with the Golden State Warriors. Dismissing the two championships that Durant won with the Bay Area side, the analyst said:
“Before KD gets that great respect from all the old heads, he’s going to have to win a championship as the bus driver. Listen, he joined that team that already won a championship, no disrespect, that’s just a fact.”
It didn’t take long for the Durantula to retaliate.
“I don’t really f**k with your approach. That’s my opinion on you, just like your opinion on us,” KD said.
Knowing Charles Barkley, he will not stop criticizing Durant until the latter is able to lead his team to a championship win.
