“I don't really f**k with your approach” – Kevin Durant fires back at Charles Barkley for disrespecting him with ‘Bus Driver’ analogy
The way two-time NBA champion Kevin Durant sees things, there's a big difference between Charles Barkley as a player and Charles Barkley as an analyst. At times, the Hall of Famer's brutal honesty is exactly what's needed. In other cases, the criticism of some of the league's best players creates controversy.
This offseason, Barkley claimed that much like Kobe Bryant won without Shaquille O'Neal and LeBron James won without Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, Durant needs to win without the Golden State Warriors. Given that the team had already won a title before he joined them, Barkley believed Durant needed to win with the Brooklyn Nets after leaving the Warriors in 2019 with two titles.
The analogy he used was that Durant was on a championship-winning bus, but now he needs to win as a bus driver, not just a passenger. While Durant is now looking to bring a championship to the Phoenix Suns, he had some words for The Chuckster on a recent episode of "The Etcs" on Boardroom.TV:
"It just looks corny on his part. Like, you're a legend in the game. We respect what you've done, and, like, when you start trying to tear people apart for what they did in different ways and tryin' to basically bully people because you're in the media, it's just corny to me. But it is what it is. It's a part of the storyline.
"And he's a f****ng legend that I got nothing but respect for, and when I look up, I'm gonna play with pride knowing that he put blood sweat and tears into this organization, so that ain't got nothing to do with how he is as an analyst though.
"Like, I don't agree with how he approach the game as a Hall of Famer. His game as an analyst, I don't really f**k with your approach."
: bit.ly/408VNg4.@KDTrey5 on Charles Barkley:
"He's a fucking legend that I've got nothing but respect for... I'm gonna play with pride knowing that he put blood, sweat and tears into this organization. ... As an analyst, I don't really fuck with your approach."
📺: bit.ly/408VNg4 https://t.co/ZXtielFH3S
You can view Durant's comments in the video above shortly after the 1:30 mark, and then picking up towards the end of the video.
What did Charles Barkley say about Kevin Durant?
Charles Barkley's comments sparked quite a debate among the NBA community. On one hand, many felt that he was right on the money given that Kevin Durant had left the OKC Thunder in 2016 after blowing a 3-1 lead to the Warriors. On the other, Durant has maintained that he doesn't need anyone to validate his championships.
But what did Charles Barkley say about Kevin Durant specifically about KD being a bus driver? Let's take a look. On ESPN's "Get Up" in June, Barkley said:
“Before KD gets that great respect from all the old heads, he’s going to have to win a championship as the bus driver. Listen, he joined that team that already won a championship. No disrespect, that’s just a fact.
“KD’s an all-time hell of a player, but until he is the guy on a championship, we’re not going to ever give him the respect that he probably deserves. The game hasn’t changed. Kobe said it, LeBron said it, and so we’re going to hold him to the same high standard.”
You can view his full comments in the video below.