Kevin Durant Defends Hornets Fans After Charles Barkley Slander

The Charlotte Hornets and Washington Wizards have combined, after their matchup on Saturday, for 28 wins at this point, which is far from a lot. They're both in the bottom four of the Eastern Conference.

That said, the Hornets have been quietly very good for several weeks now, and their record doesn't quite indicate how good they're actually playing. Nevertheless, NBA broadcaster and former player Charles Barkley couldn't help but take a jab at the two teams.

The game on Saturday was moved up because of an impending ice storm, and Barkley said on the postgame, "If you went to this game, you had nothing to do today," implying that there are a million better things to do than visit the Spectrum Center and watch the Hornets take on the Wizards.

It's mean-spirited swipe, and an unlikely figure emerged to defend the Hornets: Kevin Durant. The Houston Rockets star quoted a video of Barkley's attempted joke and asked, "Did yall laugh?" Durant seemingly did not.

Did yall laugh? https://t.co/hYjubpzskY
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) January 25, 2026

Durant is vocal on social media about all things basketball, interacting with (and clapping back at) fans and providing his own takes on the state of the sport. On Saturday, he had time to go to bat for the Hornets and their fans.

Barkley's take fundamentally misunderstands what the Hornets are right now. They may be 18-28, but they have a positive point differential. If the standings were by that, they'd be eighth in the East and eighth in the West.

It also stands in direct opposition to Miles Bridges' take after the game. Charlotte was expected to get demolished by the winter storm, with power outages predicted.

Yet, fans still showed up to watch what is beginning to look like a promising team. Even when the Hornets have struggled, fans have shown up, so to take a jab at them feels like punching down.

🎙️ Miles Bridges on the fans braving the incoming weather and showing up early:

"We got the best fans in the world, the most loyal fans. To come out here when it's about to be an ice storm—that means a lot to us. So we had to reward them with the win." pic.twitter.com/pB1bSZOCJZ
— r/CharlotteHornets (@HornetsReddit) January 24, 2026

The Hornets should have blown out the Wizards, but they got the win, which is the most important thing. And those who did attend, perhaps much to the chagrin of Barkley, were treated to a really nice basketball game with tons of exciting young players on the floor.

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