Charles Barkley made a recent comment where he pointed to Kevin Durant joining a winning team (Golden State Warriors) to get his NBA Championship ring. It is not a lie what Barkley says but it is not true that Durant did not play an important role in winning a back-to-back title with the Warriors.

Barkley did not say something that people already said, the OKC fans criticized Durant when he left Oklahoma to play with the Golden State Warriors, the feeling was that Durant wanted to win a ring with the Warriors and he saw that that was the easy way instead of trying with Westbrook.

Kevin Durant’s harsh words against Charles Barkley

Barkley’s comment:

“…Before KD gets that great respect from all the “old heads”, he’s going to have to win a championship as the “bus driver.” He joined that team that already won a championship, no disrespect, that’s just a fact… Until he is the guy on a championship, we’re not going to ever give him the respect that he probably deserves. The game hasn’t changed. Kobe said it, LeBron said it, we’re going to hold him to the same high standar…”

What is the bus driver that Barkley refers to? In short, he is the player who leads a team to the playoffs and plays a key role during the NBA Finals. Something like what LeBron James did with the Cavaliers and Miami Heat.

Durant’s comment:

“…All this s— is nasty, another terrible analogy from a hatin old head that can’t accept that we making more bread than them. It’s just timing Chucky, don’t hate the playa…”

Kevin Durant replied by noting that Barkley was jealous because players today make so much more money than what they did in the last century. It’s a valid point, Barkley earns more money today working at TNT than he did during his NBA career.