It’s been widely rumored that the New York Knicks could land Kevin Durant and/or Kyrie Irving over the summer during NBA free agency. But according to Charles Barkley, neither of them is tough enough to handle the Big Apple.
Speaking with Jimmy Traina of Sports Illustrated, Barkley said he’d tell Durant “You ain’t tough enough to play in New York” if he were asked to give the Golden State Warriors star some advice.
He then included Irving as he elaborated.
“I don’t think Durant or Kyrie are tough enough to play in NY. Kyrie’s a very good player. Kevin’s a great, great player. But I’m not sure they have the mental make up to play in NY. Those guys are complaining about the media asking questions. Maybe NY isn’t for them.”
Truthfully, Barkley isn’t wrong here, particularly in what he said about Durant.
Durant has long been extremely sensitive about stuff that’s written about him, and he’s had some pretty terse exchanges with members of the media during his career. Not to mention, he’s got an obsession with what people on Twitter say about him.
Irving has also had his own issues dealing with the media recently, though he’s handled playing in Boston, which isn’t all that much more imposing than New York from a media perspective.