Kevin Durant is arguably one of the best scorers the league has ever seen. Known for his ability to score effortlessly, Durant has a bunch of trophies to back his talent.
While he did win his sole MVP trophy with the Oklahoma City Thunder, his time with the Warriors undoubtedly was the best in his career. Winning two championships and two Finals MVP trophies, KD’s time with the Dubs was surely a success.
Now playing for the Nets, Durant hasn’t had the same amount of success, though. While he has been exceptional on the court, the Nets have either been marred with injuries or have been outclassed by other teams in the East.
The lack of success certainly has been a key factor for a narrative to build around Durant. In a recent appearance at ESPN, Charles Barkley claimed that KD was never the bus driver in the Dubs’ two championships but rather a ‘Bus Rider’.
Durant understandably wasn’t the biggest fan of the comment. In a recent episode of his podcast, the 32-year-old clapped back at Barkley and revealed what he really thought about the criticism. (28:10 onwards):
“Bus riders, bus drivers, like, what does that even mean? We play a team game, I thought, at the end of the day. And we all played with great players, but I feel like I can stand out among any player. I don’t have to minimize myself, even for great players.
“So, naah, I never looked at it if I’m riding the bus, ’cause I played a lot of minutes, and I scored a lot of points for that team. Then you say I won’t get respect from the legends. Like, what legends? What group of legends are you talking about? Who? ‘Cause every time I run into a legend, I get nothing but love.
While KD and the Nets did create a super team with stars like Kyrie Irving and James Harden, Brooklyn somehow has not been able to make their mark so far. Shipping out Harden also did not do the franchise any favors, with the Nets embarrassed in the first round by a 4-0 defeat to the Boston Celtics.
Given the lack of success and Kyrie Irving’s future with the team uncertain, Durant might end up looking for other teams in the off-season. Will the Nets give the duo of KD and Kyrie one more season to challenge for a title, or have we seen the last of Durant with the Nets?
