Kevin Durant starts his offseason by firing back at Charles Barkley
Kevin Durant and the Nets got swept by the Celtics on Monday in their first-round playoff series, and it seems the superstar’s first order of postseason business was to troll Charles Barkley.
Durant took to Instagram on Tuesday to share old photos of Barkley when he played for the Rockets and Sixers, writing, “Where would Chuck be without the homies.”
The Nets star appeared to respond to previous comments made by Barkley, who called Durant a “bus rider” and questioned his two championship rings with Golden State, where he teamed up with future Hall of Famers in Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green.
“I don’t want to badmouth the dude, but you guys are always talking about that championship stuff,” Barkley said Sunday when asked about Durant on “Inside the NBA.”
“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,” he said. “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.
“Come on Shaq, tell’ em. All these guys walk around with these championship rings. Hey, y’all bus riders. But let me tell you something. When you’re the bus driver and you got all that pressure when you have to play well or you going to get the blame? That’s a different animal,” said Barkley.
After O’Neal agreed with Sir Charles, Kenny Smith attempted to defend Durant, but Barkley wasn’t having it.
The Celtics-Nets series marked the first time Durant has been swept out of the playoffs in his career.
