Things between NBA legend Charles Barkley and Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant are getting heated after the TNT analyst referred to Durant as a “bus rider”.
With Brooklyn down against Boston 3-0 on the weekend, the Hall of Famer took aim at Durant’s lackluster playoff performance saying, “If you ain’t driving the bus, don’t walk around talkin’ bout you a champion!”
Durant has a history of playing alongside superstars. First in Oklahoma City alongside Russell Westbrook and James Harden, next in Golden State with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson and now in Brooklyn alongside Kyrie Irving and the recently traded James Harden.
Brooklyn went on to get eliminated from this season’s playoffs after being swept 4-0 by Boston. With Durant’s season now over, he’s had time to hit back at Barkley’s comments.
The two-time NBA champion took to Instagam to post photos of Barkley playing alongside several legends of the game. They included photos of Barkley with NBA greats Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler and Scottie Pippen from his final years in Houston.
Also posted was a photo from Barkley’s rookie season in Philadelphia where he teamed up with Moses Malone, Maurice Cheeks and Julius Erving.
Durant wrote “Where would Chuck be without the big homies” above the Sixers photo insinuating Barkley was a ring chaser.
Onlookers pointed out Durant’s mistake of making himself bait for the NBA on TNT’s producers but he wasn’t phased.
Sure enough when NBA on TNT aired their next episode the panel chimed in on Durants’ comments. Barkley was quick to admit that “When I was the bus driver I didn’t win anything just like him.”
Barkley proceeded to take another shot at Durant and the Nets asking, “You think they put that play-in banner up yet already?” referencing their recent play-in victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Chuckster went on to say, “I can put up stuff about him, Russell (Westbrook) and James (Harden) and Serge Ibaka..KD (Kevin Durant) is a great player. The only point I was making: Life is different when you’re driving the bus.”
In light of his bus driver comments, the TNT crew presented Barkley with the keys to his very own bus – the “Chuck Wagon”.
As for the show’s producers, they certainly had something up their sleeves. They bade farewell to Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets in style. Borrowing a scene from “The Office”, they depicted Brooklyn heading to Cancun on a bus driven by none other than Charles Barkley.
