“Kevin Durant, he couldn’t get over the hump, he like ‘No, I gotta go win’” - Charles Barkley says LeBron James and Kevin Durant left their teams to chase a ring due to mounting criticism

Kevin Durant and LeBron James have been considered by many to be the top two players in the NBA over the last decade. “King James” is a four-time champion, while KD has lifted the Larry O’Brien Trophy twice.

Before both of them won the NBA title, they left their respective teams to form super teams to ultimately nail a championship. James took his talents to South Beach in the summer of 2010 while Durant spurned the OKC Thunder for the Golden State Warriors in 2016.

NBA legend Charles Barkley, on "The Ryen Russillo Podcast," explained that rising pressure and criticism pushed both superstars to desperately win a title:

“There's a reason why LeBron left Cleveland, you know he can’t win …Same thing with Kevin Durant, he couldn’t get over the hump he like, ‘No, I gotta go win.’”

Kevin Durant toiled fruitlessly with Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma without winning a title. While the Thunder were perennial postseason guests in KD’s time in OKC, the farthest they reached was the NBA Finals in 2012. Ironically enough, LeBron James, playing for the Miami Heat, prevented Durant from winning his first championship.

Regarded as the “Chosen One” and placed on the pedestal as the savior of the Cleveland Cavaliers, James was just as unfortunate as Durant. He carried his team to the NBA Finals in 2007, but they were unceremoniously swept by Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs.

While both LeBron James and Kevin Durant played brilliantly, neither of them could take their respective franchises to the promised land. They were already relentlessly dogged by the media and critics questioning if they were good enough to lead their different teams to the coveted title.

According to Barkley, the pressure and criticism eventually got to them and forced them to look for a better-constructed team to grab their first titles.

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Kevin Durant and LeBron James immediately got the monkey off their backs after leaving the teams that drafted them

Both LeBron James and Kevin Durant made controversial decisions to leave their respective teams in their quest for a title. [Photo: New York Daily News]

Kevin Durant won his first championship the year he left the OKC Thunder. With Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, KD was in basketball nirvana. After years of longing for an NBA title, he promptly won back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018 after signing with the Warriors in July 2016.

Durant then left the Warriors in 2019 to form another super team with Kyrie Irving and James Harden, but that did not bring him another title either. Most basketball analysts and fans are still wondering if KD would be called a champion had he remained with the Thunder.

LeBron James, on the other hand, could have also won in his first year with the Miami Heat if not for a colossal meltdown in 2011. Against Dirk Nowitzki’s Dallas Mavericks, Miami won its first two games before losing four straight for one of the biggest upsets in NBA Finals history.

The stunning loss only heightened the noise surrounding James’ capacity to win at the highest level despite being surrounded by superstars. With prime Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, LeBron James finally became a champion the following year.

To James’ credit, he won two more crowns after leaving South Beach. He delivered on his promise to bring a championship to Cleveland in 2016 after his stint in Miami and won one with the LA Lakers as well in 2020.

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