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Charles Barkley Believes Warriors’ NBA Finals Appearance Affects Kevin Durant’s Legacy: “Not Going To Get The Credit They Deserve”

The Golden State Warriors are back in the NBA Finals for the first time since losing to the Toronto Raptors in 2019. This time, however, they did it without two-time Finals MVP Kevin Durant, who left the team in the summer of 2019.

With the Warriors returning in a familiar stage, many have questioned whether this NBA Finals appearance has some sort of an effect to Durant’s legacy. Especially, since Durant hasn’t made the Conference Finals since leaving Stephen Curry and the Warriors.

Additionally, the Warriors are currently facing the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals and have already managed to steal a game, in contrast to Durant and the Brooklyn Nets who were swept by the same Celtics team in the first-round of the NBA playoffs.

In a recent interview, Hall of Famer and now-NBA analyst Charles Barkley offered his two cents on the legacy of the 33-year old Nets superstar, claiming that Durant is not going to receive his credit until they win a championship as the main guy on the team.

Per NY Daily News:

“You know it has an effect on his legacy,” said Barkley, who was promoting his upcoming appearance at the American City Golf Championship at Tahoe. “If you go back and look, and I talked about it on the [TNT] show, LeBron has said it before — he said, ‘I had to win a championship without Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.’ And Kobe’s said it before, Rest in Peace, ‘I’ve got to win a championship without Shaq.’

“So Kevin and Kyrie [Irving], before we elevate them among the old guys, they’re not going to get the credit they deserve until they win a championship by themselves and be The Guy.”