It’s human nature to look for someone to blame when something goes wrong.
Warriors general manager Bob Myers recognized that after Monday’s Game 5 win, which saw the loss of Kevin Durant to an Achilles injury. An emotional Myers contested the notion that anyone was at fault for Durant’s injury but was willing to accept the blame.
Charles Barkley, though, didn’t see it that way at all. He thought the Warriors absolutely deserved to be blamed for rushing Durant back after missing a month with a calf strain.
The NBA Hall of Famer and TNT analyst joined Get Up on Tuesday and blasted Golden State for letting Durant take the floor in Game 5. The fact that Durant injured his Achilles after 12 minutes only proved his point, according to Barkley.
Barkley said:
“You’ve been asking these guys all morning if there’s somebody to blame. Yes, there is somebody to blame! The Golden State Warriors for putting KD out there. Listen, that was not right. If you go back and look at the last two weeks, the article comes out ‘KD’s worst nightmare: The Warriors are winning without him.’ Then you read the articles ‘the Warriors are really unhappy that KD won’t risk his Achilles … they’re frustrated with KD.’ Now this man has to be feeling some kind of weight. So I blame the Warriors for KD getting hurt, and I don’t care what they say about it. They shouldn’t have put that man out there. You know how I know it? Because he blew out his Achilles!”
Barkley went on to add that having Durant play in the NBA Finals after a month-long layoff was a disaster waiting to happen.
He never should have been playing.