National Basketball Association

Barkley: Kevin Durant should 'shut up', quit talking about Thunder

Published Oct. 18, 2016 4:38 p.m. ET

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Charles Barkley says Kevin Durant isn't "a villain" but he's making himself one, and advises the new Warriors star to "shut up" and stop talking about his old Thunder team.

"He's made himself a villain by taking all these shots at Oklahoma City for no reason. There's no reason for that," Barkley told reporters Tuesday. "He left, he's happy, shut up. When you're taking shots at Russell (Westbrook) and those guys, that's not necessary."

Barkley isn't a fan of Durant's move in the first place, and the TNT analyst still thinks the Warriors are too reliant on jumpers and lack a dominant big man.

"Let me say this: I still think they got some of the same issues this year with that team," Barkley said. "Can they rebound the ball? They're going to still be shooting jumpers. They're not going to get any low-post scoring. Can that type of play hold up through the rigors of the NBA playoffs? I'm still going to say the same thing I've always said: No."

Naturally, fans were amused.

Reminder: Charles Barkley has the worst 3-point percentage in NBA history of anyone with at least 1,000 career attempts. https://t.co/TqKV0ASlli
— devin kharpertian (@uuords) October 18, 2016

And the Warriors weren't too concerned, either.

“He’s good at his job,” coach Steve Kerr told CSN Bay Area's Monte Poole. “He’s funny. He’s controversial. I love Charles. I don’t have any complaints. It’s all part of the show.”

The Warriors won a record 73 regular-season games last season but blew a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals and lost to the Cavaliers. The Warriors then signed Durant, the former NBA MVP, and became the favorites to regain the title they won in 2015, though Barkley said they were "lucky" then because their road was filled with teams weakened by injuries. Cleveland was without Kevin Love in those Finals and lost Kyrie Irving near the end of Game 1.

The Cavs were healthy last season, and Barkley picked them to beat the Warriors.

"I told you they couldn't play that little small ball and win a championship if everybody they played was healthy, that they'd wear down, and they did. I told you Cleveland was going to beat them and they did," Barkley said during a lunch before TNT's "Inside the NBA" studio team was elected to the Broadcasting Hall of Fame.

Barkley and the team will host their show Tuesday night in Cleveland outside Quicken Loans Arena, where the Cavaliers will receive their rings before facing the Knicks in their season opener. The Warriors will play the Spurs in the nightcap of TNT's doubleheader.

Barkley, a Hall of Fame player who never won a championship, was disappointed that Durant left Oklahoma City for an easier chance at a title with the star-studded Warriors, and also that he's been outspoken about the differences between his old and new teams.

Durant recently praised his Warriors teammates for being "selfless", a comment that former teammate Russell Westbrook called "cute".

The Associated Press contributed to this report.