With the Brooklyn Nets on the verge of elimination against the Boston Celtics, Charles Barkley didnāt waste his chance to take a shot at Kevin Durant. He called him a ābus-riderā, all but undermining the two rings he won with the Golden State Warriors.
Durant has faced plenty of backlash since leaving OKC. Some people claim he took the easy way out by joining Stephen Curry and the best team in the league, putting an asterisk next to his two rings.
Thatās not the case with Gilbert Arenas. If anything, the former All-Star believes Barkley was way out of line with his comments. He called him out because, unlike KD, he never even won a championship.
NBA News: Gilbert Arenas Fires Back At Charles Barkley Over āBus-Ridingā Comments
(Transcript via Fadeaway World)
āI think old school is having a problem with who they were. You gotta remember the new school is watching everything. Weāre watching you get teased by Shaquille OāNeal every chance you get that you havenāt won a championship. What do you think? The new school of I donāt want to be that. ā¦ You trumped me with the ring every time we get to argue. You see it, Shaq does one of these. Now, as a player, I need that. You canāt Trump me with rings. Just like with Kevin Durant, Charles Barkley canāt say nothing to him. He pulls the ring like I got the ring. I got two of them. I got the two Finals MVPs.ā
āThatās where, like, you donāt want to be; in that category. So you want to be a bus driver to the point where I want to get to the destination. So if I need someone to help me drive the bus a little bit better, okay. Iām not gonna wait until Iām on my last leg, which Charles Barkley did. So when all these guys go I didnāt try to win it, yeah you did. You tried to go to Houston. You went to Houston to try to win a championship.ā
Maybe thereās some middle ground to this. Saying KD didnāt win a real ring is unfair, inaccurate, and flat-out hating. But Chuck is also right to some extent, and the fact that he was never a champion doesnāt make his comments less true.
