Kevin Durant’s move to the Golden State Warriors is still controversial around the NBA community. Back in 2016, the 2014 NBA MVP had a big decision in his hands; after several years trying to succeed with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Durant had made up his mind that he won’t return to his first team in the league. He had plenty of suitors to pick and instead of trying to go somewhere and build something on his own, he decided to join the Warriors a couple of months after they beat him in the playoffs.
KD won two titles in Oklahoma City, becoming one of the best players in the team that went to three straight NBA Finals. Durant was great during those years, but some people still don’t believe he was as valuable as many others think. Former NBA player-turned-analyst Charles Barkley is one of those, as he recently claimed Durant wasn’t the best player on the Warriors roster nor the leader of the squad.
Chuck appeared on the Dan Patrick show, talking about that Warriors team, saying that Stephen Curry was the most important player for them, adding that Draymond Green was the vocal leader of the team. For him, Durant couldn’t fill those shoes when he was in the Bay. Instead of being a ‘bus driver’, Chuck labeled Durant as a ‘bus rider’ until he wins a championship in Brooklyn.
“To be on my Mount Rushmore, you have to be a bus driver, you have to be that key guy on your team. LeBron is on there because of that. Bill Russell is there because of that. Till KD wins one in Brooklyn, he won’t be a bus driver to me,” Chuck said.
Even though Durant won two titles in Golden State and two FMVP, not everybody believes he did it in the right way. For many NBA fans, those titles will have an asterisk, at least until he wins another championship with the Nets. Durant has gotten a lot of shade since that move and now he’s keen to show everybody he can be the leader of a championship team.
