Kevin Durant takes vicious shot at Charles Barkley over 'bus' comment
Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant is one of the all-time greats in basketball history. Unfortunately for him, the superstar has also allowed critics and outside noise to bother him entirely too much over the years. The former Texas Longhorns star has notoriously made burner Twitter accounts over the years to “anonymously” argue with his detractors and critics on social media. Durant has recently been embroiled in a heated war of words with TNT’s NBA analyst, Charles Barkley. Barkley recently stated that players who “ride the bus” aren’t “bus drivers” and they aren’t the same type of champions in his eyes.
Durant decided to strike back on his Twitter account recently.
Here’s a bit more background/information on the Barkley/Durant war of words below if curious.
Barkley’s criticism was levied at Durant as the Brooklyn Nets were swept in the first round of the NBA playoffs. Barkley stated that just because Durant had won two previous championships with the Golden State Warriors, it didn’t mean the same thing as it does now that he has less talent around him.
Durant took to his social media to strike back at Barkley, sharing pictures of Barkley standing alongside other Hall of Fame players during his time with the Houston Rockets. Durant’s response called out Barkley as a hypocrite for saying his championships with Golden State weren’t important.
Charles Barkley on Kevin Durant’s response
After showing the images that Durant shared on social media, Barkley attempted to clarify his statements — while taking another shot back at Durant and his time with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“Listen man, I could put up stuff about him and Russell [Westbrook] and James [Harden] and Serge Ibaka,” said Barkley. “I said ‘wait a minute,’ I said ‘no.’ Listen, KD is a great player. Only point I was making [is], life is different when you’re driving the bus.”
Kenny Smith attempted to give his take on the argument, to a heated Barkley, about why he felt the “bus driver” comments were a poor choice of words. Smith stated that in his opinion, using “bus driver” as an insult gives people ammunition to devalue Barkley’s own legendary career. While Barkley never won an NBA championship in his career, people could use his own words against him.
Barkley adamantly denied that anyone who isn’t at that level has any place commenting, and that his response to Durant was between them.
“They’re not in the conversation,” said Barkley of fans who comment on the argument. “No they’re not. We’re not paying the internet any attention. They’re uninformed. When I’m in the room with the other Hall of Famers, I don’t get to sit at that table. That’s the way it is. Because they are champions.”
On3’s Austin Brezina also contributed to this article.