Houston Rockets star Kevin Durant was mentioned by former NBA player Charles Barkley when talking about the second apron. The contract rule was created to prevent superteams from happening and keep every team and player competitive. Before the rule existed, players like Durant had a way to form a powerful team with other stars and still get paid a lot of money.
However, Commissioner Adam Silver has put a stop to that with the help of the second apron rule. It was introduced in the 2023 Collective Bargaining Agreement, which puts a salary threshold on teams. Organizations are prohibited under the rule from exceeding the salary cap by a significant amount. Losing the Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception would be one of the penalties for teams that exceed the salary cap.
Barkley, who appeared as a guest on the latest episode of “The Bill Simmons Podcast,” talked about the second apron. In his tirade, he named the Houston Rockets star as one of the players who made the rule possible. He also mentioned Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James as one of the culprits.
“Why did they have to come up with bulls*** rules, Bill? Because all these guys want to play together and not compete,” Barkley said. “If I had a dollar for every time I heard ‘the second apron,’ why did Adam Silver have to put the second apron in?
"What do you mean it's not fair?"
Charles Barkley defends the NBA's second apron. pic.twitter.com/nONbxuWZPY
— The Ringer (@ringer) September 3, 2025
“Because LeBron got all his guys together. KD wanted to go play with the Warriors. I hate when I hear, ‘Man, the second apron’s not fair.’ What do you mean it’s not fair? If y’all stop all wanting to play together, we wouldn’t have to make up bogus a** rules to stop y’all from playing together.”
The Houston Rockets star claps back at Barkley
Durant is almost always not silent on social media. The Houston Rockets star has been lurking online, replying to fans, haters and now — former NBA stars. After Barkley talked about the two-time champion being one of the sources of why the second apron was included in the current CBA.
However, the four-time Olympic gold medalist added a bit of humor and said that he’s blaming current ESPN analyst Bob Myers. The basketball analyst was the general manager when Durant joined the Golden State Warriors in the summer of 2016.
“Ooh since we’re playing the blame game, I select Bob Myers as the fall guy,” the 6-foot-11 forward said.
Durant wasn’t attacking Barkley when he responded to what he said about the second apron. But the decision to offer him a spot in the Warriors’ roster was Myers’. This was to avenge their performance in the 2016 NBA Finals, where they lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen on Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
