NEW YORK — The age-old narrative that there’s more pressure playing in New York than in other cities was cited by Hall of Famer Charles Barkley on Monday.
During a media event for CBS and Turner’s coverage of the 2019 NCAA tournament, Barkley was asked what advice he’d give to Kevin Durant ahead of a summer in which he may leave the Golden State Warriors, if the forward told him he was signing with the Knicks.
“You ain’t tough enough to play in New York,” Barkley responded. “I don’t think him or Kyrie (Irving) are tough enough to play in New York.”
He was serious, as he always is with his opinions.
“Kyrie’s a very good player, Durant is a great player, but I’m not sure they have the mental makeup to play in New York,” he continued. “There’s a lot that comes with playing in New York. Those guys are complaining about the media asking questions and things like that, maybe New York is not for them. … New York is a different animal.”
In a separate conversation about the Warriors’ struggles and whether they were over Durant’s impending free agency, Barkley said he thought both Durant and Irving should have said in training camp that they’re not answering any free agency questions during the season. At the very least, he’s happy to see Irving (who he called “miserable” recently) apologize for the way he’s dealt with the media — he told Yahoo, “The way I’ve handled things, it hasn’t been perfect. I’ve made a lot of mistakes that I take full responsibility for. I apologize.”
“(Durant and Irving) have been really whiny and complaining all year,” Barkley said. “I was really proud of Kyrie for coming out with the apology yesterday, that was really cool. He should have said it sooner. But better late than never.”
Maybe that’s the first step on the road to playing in a place like New York, if it is the “different animal” Barkley and others make it out to be.
