Charles Barkley, Kevin Durant continue war of words
Barkley previously said that Durant was playing as if he was a 'bus rider' rather than the 'bus driver'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The war of words between NBA Hall of Famer turned TNT analyst Charles Barkley and Nets forward Kevin Durant isn’t going away.
With the Nets now out of the NBA Playoffs after getting swept by the Celtics in Round 1, Barkley further expounded on his comments that Durant is a "bus rider."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I can put up stuff [on social media] about him, Russell [Westbrook] and James [Harden] and Serge Ibaka … KD [Kevin Durant] is a great player," Barkley said on Tuesday’s Inside the NBA, via the New York Post. "The only point I was making: Life is different when you’re driving the bus.
Brooklyn Nets' Kyrie Irving, right, and Kevin Durant celebrate after a basket during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Indiana Pacers at the Barclays Center, Sunday, April 10, 2022, in New York. The Nets defeated the Pacers 134-126. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
"When I am in the room with the other Hall of Famers, I don’t get to the sit at their table. That’s the way it is … They are champions."
Barkley previously said after the Nets’ 109-103 Game 3 defeat to the Celtics that Durant was playing as if he was a "bus rider" rather than the "bus driver." Barkley questioned Durant’s two championship rings in Golden State, in which Durant joined a 73-9 team that included All-Stars Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"If you ain’t driving the bus, don’t walk around talkin’ ‘bout you a champion," Barkley said.
Barkley, meanwhile, infamously finished his 16-year career without a ring. Durant poked fun at that during an Instagram post Tuesday, and showed photos of all the greats that Barkley played alongside during his career.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Where would Chuck be without the big homies," Durant wrote.
Brooklyn Nets' Kevin Durant, center, vies for the ball with Boston Celtics' Al Horford (42) and Jayson Tatum (0) during the first half of Game 2 of an NBA basketball first-round Eastern Conference playoff series, Wednesday, April 20, 2022, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
In an effort to win a ring before his retirement, Barkley was traded to the Rockets and joined Hall of Famers Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler ahead of the 1996-97 season. Houston had won back-to-back titles in 1994 and 1995 and was looking to win one more before its aging core began to decline.
Barkley, Olajuwon and Drexler reached the Western Conference Finals in 1996-97, but never raised the Larry O’Brien trophy with said trio.