Iman Shumpert weighed in on why Kevin Durant and his superteam affiliations garner immense flak.
- Iman Shumpert shared his thoughts on why NBA players don’t respect Kevin Durant
- Durant has garnered flak from other analysts as well
- All eyes will be on Durant as he hopes to lead the Phoenix Suns to an NBA title
Former NBA champion Iman Shumpert explained why the NBA players wouldn’t respect Kevin Durant.
Speaking on Entirely NBA, Shumpert spoke about Durant and his superteam moves, saying:
“Like you came in like a d***head saying why don’t y’all switch teams? Y’all not loyal. Supersonic KD was one way. He was coming to hoop. Like ‘Aha, I can’t lift 185, don’t care. Bust on you. I’ll still drop 50 on you.’ And we was loving that. But when you change and you just be like, Ah that’s cool, we can team up. You’re still raw as f*** but it’s just like… (grimaces).”
Shumpert and Durant briefly spent time together on the Brooklyn Nets. While Durant became a Net in June 2019, Shumpert signed with the Brooklyn, who had a roster exemption following Wilson Chandler’s 25-game suspension for his performance-enhancing substance (PED) controversy. He was waived after Chandler’s suspension ended.
The two were part of the Nets team again when the franchise signed him in 2021, but he was waived the following month. And in the timeframe, Shumpert seems to have known enough as to why Durant wasn’t respected by other players.
Kevin Durant Has Drawn Criticism From Other Former NBA Stars As Well
Iman Shumpert wasn’t the only one who had his take on players not respecting Kevin Durant. Earlier, it was former NBA legend Charles Barkley who took shots at the Phoenix Suns forward.
Barkley called Durant “very sensitive” during an interview with CBS.
He’s part of that generation who think he can’t be criticized. He’s never looked in the mirror and says, ‘Man, is that a fair criticism?'”
To which Durant even had a response saying he would never respect anything that came out of Barkley’s mouth. While the duo has been trading digs at each other for some time now, Durant has also been vocal with fans who have criticized him in the past leading other analysts and players to call out the Suns star.
All said, much depends on how Durant fares for Phoenix in the 2023-24 season. He has been slammed for switching to teams with superstars, and now it’s time to prove a point.
