Phoenix Suns superstar Kevin Durant has had his share of disagreements with NBA analysts in the past. He’s also gotten into Twitter beefs with fans, and even used burner accounts to fire back at those fans. But for all that, Durant has never had a personal beef with anyone like the one he currently has with Basketball Hall of Famer and NBA legend Charles Barkley.
Sir Charles, who’s a longtime analyst with TNT, has often called out KD for not building and leading his own team to a championship, instead opting to join championship contenders. That in turn hasn’t sat well with Durant, who’s always been pretty thin-skinned or sensitive.
During a recent episode of KD’s “The ETCs” podcast, Durant gave Barkley his props as a player, but questioned his ways as an analyst.
“He’s a f—ing 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, snd tears into this organization. That ain’t got nothing to do with how he is as an analyst, though,” the Suns star said. “I don’t agree with how he approaches the game as a Hall of Famer. His game as an analyst, I don’t really f—k with your approach. That’s my opinion on you, just like your opinion on us.”
Barkley Called KD A Bus Rider
Durant, who’s widely considered the second-best player of his generation, has never been able to live down joining the 73-win Golden State Warriors in 2016. He went on to win NBA championships the following two seasons, but in Barkley’s opinion he was a “bus rider,” and not the “driver.”
KD feels that is a dumb analogy and expressed this in the podcast.
“Why is that analogy even brought up for teams? Durant said on his Boardroom podcast. “Like we ain’t on no f—g bus. I feel like the only reason that kept traction was because of me specifically. If it was about any other player, that s—t wouldn’t have hit like that.
“But Charles Barkley said that about me and like I said, disrespecting my game is part of the storyline. So that’s gon’ hit for my storyline more than anything.”
Durant is probably right when he says his name being attached to the statement helped the statement grow legs. But Barkley isn’t entirely wrong either. KD joining a 73-win team that he lost to in the conference finals and now coming to Phoenix — which was just in the NBA Finals two seasons ago — does give “bus rider” vibes.
Although in this case, if the Suns, whom Barkley took to the Finals in 1993, were to win it, KD will be the main reason why.
KD Not Calling It A Beef?
Durant said while there’s no beef between the two legends, he also didn’t hesitate to call Barkley’s ways corny.
“I wouldn’t call if need,” Durant said. “I just think he’s mad opinionated and he feels his job is to be mad opinionated in a negative way against players. … I’m not saying you should only talk about the positives either, but when you clearly show bias that you’re trying to take away from the players have done, it just looks corny on his part.”
This story will only continue to grow legs if KD and the Suns come up small in the postseason. Just imagine what Barkley will say then.
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