Kevin Durant’s return from his Achilles injury was everything one could ask for – finishing with 22 points, five rebounds and three assists in his first meaningful game in 18 months.
But his postgame interview left a little more to be desired.
Durant joined the “Inside the NBA” crew on TNT following the Brooklyn Nets’ 125-99 win over the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, but did not appear all that enthused about the questions they were asking.
One exchange with Charles Barkley, in particular, stood out after Barkley asked Durant a question about how he’s spent much of the recent months working on his timing and conditioning.
“Yeah,” Durant said while staring down on the ground.
Barkley was among the harshest and most outspoken critics of Durant’s teammate, Kyrie Irving, in recent weeks due to Irving’s media boycott and Barkley later surmised that may have been why Durant did not want to say much to him.
Yet, Durant didn’t seem to say too much to Kenny Smith, Shaquille O’Neal or Ernie Johnson, either, throughout the nearly three-minute long interview, which led to the “Inside the NBA” crew to start mocking Durant once it was over.
“It was loud in that arena, couldn’t hear us,” Smith said, sarcastically.
“There was so much energy in there,” O’Neal quipped.
It didn’t end there.
The guys started asking each other questions and giving one or two word answers.
Barkley asked O’Neal, “how was the shopping spree for the kids?” O’Neal replied, “Pretty good.” Barkley then asked O’Neal to ask him something.
“How many gifts did you buy Kenny [Smith] this year?” Shaq asked.
“None,” Barkley replied while trying to keep a straight face.
They continued to have fun with it after the Clippers-Lakers game, but Barkley ultimately said it doesn’t bother him if these guys give him one-word answers.
Clearly, they are able to turn it into some good content.
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