Kevin Durant fires back at Charles Barkley’s live TV leadership blast as NBA star says ‘I don’t respect your opinion’

KEVIN Durant has no respect to give NBA legend and analyst Charles Barkley.

Charles Barkley has repeatedly attacked Kevin Durant for his attitude and questioned his leadership, causing Durant to speak out against him.

During the alternate NBA All-Star Game broadcast, Barkley shared his opinion about the leaders in the Phoenix Suns locker room.

He said that Durant should be the one to step up as a leader, but also claimed that it needed to be Booker because Durant is a "follower."

"I really wanted it to be KD but he's not doing it. To me it's gotta be Booker," Barkley said.

"No disrespect to Kevin. Kevin's a follower. He's not a leader. He's proven that on all of his stops."

While the statement wasn't intended to be disrespectful, it implied that Durant has been with many teams in the NBA and never the standout voice in the room.

It also can imply that Durant wasn't one of the main reason's for those teams' success, another common criticism the NBA star receives.

Durant hasn't ever directly addressed concerns about his leadership, but he took aim at Barkley after the All-Star break to clear the air.

“I just feel like a lot of people that are on TV, that doesn’t ever come to the gym; that don’t ever come to games; it’s hard for them to speak on what I do when they not in here,” Durant said.

“It’s just part of TV. They needed something to fill a segment up. So they talk about some negative ****.

"But if you’re not in the gym, I don’t respect your opinion if you’re not in the gym with me.”

The statement was clearly directed towards Barkley, as he has been Durant's most vocal questioner.

Barkley will likely clap back on Inside the NBA as he tends to do when a statement he makes picks up traction.

The Suns take on the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night at 7:30 pm ET on TNT which will give Barkley a perfect stage to continue his crusade against Durant's leadership.