Jay Williams On Charles Barkley Saying Today’s Players Are Too Sensitive: Michael Jordan Won’t Talk To You Over Criticism

On Sunday, Charles Barkley appeared on 60 Minutes and once again took aim at Kevin Durant and today’s generation of players for being too sensitive to criticism.

Naturally, that earned another response from KD, who bluntly explained he’s never going to respect what Chuck has to say about him — a feud that goes back years over Barkley’s “bus driver/rider” take regarding Durant’s titles in Golden State.

On Tuesday’s episode of First Take, Jay Williams wanted to approach this topic with JJ Redick and made an extremely salient point by noting that Durant and others are no more sensitive than any players of any other era — using Barkley’s own personal experience of having Michael Jordan refuse to talk to him for more than a decade over criticism of his ownership in Charlotte as evidence that even the GOAT is extremely sensitive.

Redick follows up by noting NBA players are among the most sensitive people on the planet, and explains how it’s gotten even worse in the age of social media and shows like First Take taking aim at players constantly.

Williams’ point is an extremely good one, as Barkley literally discussed his rift with Jordan in that same 60 Minutes interview, insisting he won’t be the first to apologize and that Jordan “has my number” and they can hash it out any time they like. The sensitivity to criticism is certainly nothing new, but it’s also an understandable human reaction. We all have our right to critique players, but they also don’t have to pay it any mind, no matter the source’s resume in the game.