Charles Barkley calls Celtics star Kyrie Irving a 'miserable' person

NBA legend Charles Barkley wasn't holding back when it came to his evaluation of Celtics guard Kyrie Irving.

Irving has been vocal this season about his dissatisfaction with the Celtics and some of his young teammates, but the TNT analyst and Hall of Famer doesn't understand where the six-time All-Star is coming from. Instead, Barkley believes Irving has the world “in the palm of his hand.”

“He’s got to be one of the most miserable people I’ve ever seen.” Charles Barkley had some words about Kyrie. pic.twitter.com/T6REMFoIW5

— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) March 6, 2019

“Kyrie Irving, I don’t know him that well, he seems like a nice kid, but I’ve never seen a person so miserable,” Barkley said on ESPN. “He’s got the world in the palm of his hand, he’s going to make $40 or $50 million a year for the next 10 years, he’s in movies, but he’s one of the most miserable people I’ve ever seen."

Barkley went on to explain that he believes Irving brought his problems upon himself by leaving the Cavaliers for the Celtics in 2017 to "have his own team."

“He wanted to go to Boston to have his own team," Barkley continued. "But what a lot of these guys don’t understand is when you’re a star, you get all the credit, but also all the blame. That’s not right. That’s just the way it is. Nobody goes to Jaylen Brown or the Morris brothers — they’re going to come to Kyrie Irving after every game. That’s the responsibility of being a star."

Barkley also brought up Warriors star Kevin Durant, who is scheduled to be a free agent this summer.

“If I’m a New York Knicks fan I’m leery, because if you can’t take the heat in Cleveland, Boston and San Francisco, you’re not going to take it in New York," Barkley said. "Both of these guys (Irving and Durant) have handled it awful. They could have said Day 1 I’m not going to talk about free agency and it would have been over, but they talk about it every single day, and when you guys ask them about it every single day they complain about it."

Entering the season, the Celtics were considered to be the favorites in the East, but have struggled to stay consistent. They are now ranked fifth in their conference with a 40-26 record behind the Bucks, Raptors, Pacers and 76ers.