"Responsible one" - Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neal get snubbed as Kevin Durant picks Ernie Johnson as road trip partner
Kevin Durant has always been vocal about his stance. There have been times in the past when Durant would get into it with a fan on social media about a specific topic, but at the same time, he can be hilarious in his own right with how he articulates his sentences.
Recently on NBA media day, the Phoenix Suns were asked by TNT's "NBA on TNT" which of their "Inside The NBA" hosts would they go on a road trip with. For Kevin Durant, he chose Ernier Johnson over Charles Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal and Kenny Smith.
"Probably Ernie, he looks like the more responsible one," Durant said.
Durant picked Ernie Johnson from the standpoint that he thinks Ernie has things more under control and can handle responsibilities during camping. Hilariously enough, only Durant picked Ernie Johnson compared to the rest of his teammates.
Jusuf Nurkic picked Shaquille O'Neal, similar to Devin Booker and Bradley Beal. Interestingly, Beal and Booker chose O'Neal because of their fondness for his taste in music along with his DJ skills.
Kevin Durant fires back at Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neal
Following his three seasons with the Brooklyn Nets, Kevin Durant was acquired by the Phoenix Suns in February 2023, as per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. In his first season in Phoenix, Durant played in eight games and averaged 26.0 points per game (57.0% shooting, including 53.7% from 3-point range) and 6.4 rebounds.
During his debut game for the Phoenix Suns, Durant put up 23 points (10-of-15 shooting, including 2-of-4 from 3-point range) and 6 rebounds against the Charlotte Hornets.
Following his outing, the Suns star mentioned to Yahoo Sports' Vincent Goodwill his thoughts on always being criticized for not being a leader:
"At this point, they're saying, go play with Scoot Henderson and win a championship and then we'll give you credit," Durant said. "I don't need no credit from ya'll, no credit from [Barkley], no credit from Shaq. Ya'll don't ever have to watch me play ever again, don't talk about me if you don't [rock] with me. I'm not gonna stop doing what I do.
"Everybody has their own opinions, man," Durant added. "It's not gonna stop me and how I approach the game. As far as leading a team, I don't need to coach no team. Whatever happens, we do it together. [Monty's] the leader, he's the coach. The GM puts the team together. I'm supposed to go out and hoop, that's my job."
Durant didn't mince words when he aimed his comments towards Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neal. From the 13-time all-star's point of view, he isn't going to listen to what his critics and doubters say he should do when it comes to basketball.
For Kevin Durant, he'll keep on doing what he has been doing for over 16 NBA seasons now, which is to keep playing good basketball and doing it together with his teammates.