Houston Rockets superstar Kevin Durant has an illustrious NBA career. The former No.2 overall pick is a two-time NBA champion and two-time NBA Finals MVP. In February he became just the sixth player in league history to eclipse the 32,000-point plateau as well.
KD is also a 16-time NBA All-Star, one-time NBA MVP, Team USAs all-time leading scorer and one of only three players to have multiple 50-40-90 seasons — 50 percent field goal percentage, 40 percent 3-pointer shooting, 90 percent free-throw percentage — along with legends Larry Bird and Steve Nash. Despite his unparalleled success some still don’t consider him a leader, which is considered the Batman role on team, but more of a Robin.
Houston Rapper Piggybacks Others Sentiments About KD
Earlier this week when Durant reached the 32K points mark ESPN NBA analyst Kendrick Perkins said he’s never seen a better scorer in the history of the NBA.
“[Kevin Durant is] the greatest scorer to ever play the game of basketball… When you talk about a guy that has zero flaws, he’s Beyoncé on the offensive end… He has no holes in his game.”
Perkins’ adulation about KD didn’t receive much pushback from his ESPN counterparts. But during a recent a recent episode of the “Road Trippin” podcast, Houston rapper Killa Kyleon gave KD his props as a scorer but basically said he wasn’t a leader.
“Easy money, I rock with you my boy. But you the best Robin to ever pick up a basketball. You not a Batman…. Everywhere he went, he never was the bus driver. He good for scoring, he can pick that son of a b*tch up and deliver. When you need that team leadership and that nucleus when you need him to be Batman, he ain’t gonna be Bruce Wayne. Being a Batman, that n**** the best Robin,” the 40-year-old former Boss Hogg Outlawz member said.
Kyleon’s Comments Support Charles Barkley’s “Bus Driver” Knock From 2022
Back in 2022 NBA legend Charles Barkley mentioned that he considered KD a bus rider when he joined the 73-win Golden State Warriors in 2016. In his opinion Durant had no pressure because Steph Curry was Batman on that team, and it allowed him to play and lose without any repercussions if they didn’t win. Durant responded with back-to-back Finals MVPs in that role.
“I don’t want to badmouth the dude [Durant], but you guys are always talking about that championship stuff,” Barkley said on Sunday. “I tried to tell y’all, all these bus riders, they don’t mean nothing to me. If you ain’t driving the bus, don’t walk around telling me you a champion. All these guys walking around with these championship rings, hey, y’all bus riders. When you’re the bus driver and you’ve got all that pressure when you have to play well or you’re going to get the blame, that’s a different animal.”
Fans Chime In
“People who don’t know basketball don’t understand that Steph made it easier for KD,” one fan said.
“The proof is in what happened after,” another fan said.
“Killa Kyleon really called KD the ‘best Robin to ever pick up a basketball.’ That is a brutal way to say “you’re a legend, but you can’t lead,” another fan quipped.
“This is so correct espesially this part. When you need that team leadership and that nucleus when you need him to be Batman, he ain’t gonna be Bruce Wayne.”
”Serge, Harden, Westbrook needed KD to stay the following year & grow under his leadership but he dipped, not a leader,” a fan mentioned.
“KD gotta be punching the air that he didn’t end up in San Antonio,” another fan spewed.
KD Leading Young Rockets Team
No matter what opinions folks may have, Durant is leading the Rockets this season. They currently sit third in the Western Conference with a 37-22 record. Durant is on pace to have his third (50-40-90) season 26.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists in roughly 40 minutes of action per night.
His arrival has unlocked former No. 3 overall pick Jabari Smith Jr. and lit a fire under rising center Alperen Şengün, who leads the team in rebounds and assists while averaging 20.2 points per game.
