It's clear to everyone in the basketball world that Kevin Durant and Charles Barkley don't see eye to eye.
The pair have gone back-and-forth throughout the years, but things got especially heated after Barkley's infamous comments stating Durant was more of a bus rider rather than a bus driver when it came to championship winning teams.
With Durant's move to the Phoenix Suns, Barkley believes he can finally change that narrative. But as far as Durant is concerned, the “bus rider” comments never made sense in the first place and believes they only gained traction because he was the target.
“Why is that analogy even brought up for teams?” Durant said on his Boardroom podcast. ” … Like, we ain't on no f*****g bus. I feel like the only reason that kept traction was because of me specifically. If it was about any other player, that s**t wouldn't have even hit like that.
“But Charles Barkley said that about me and like I said, disrespecting my game is a part of the storyline. So that's gon' hit for my storyline more than anything.”
Durant then touched on his relationship with Barkley and clarified that there is no real beef between them.
“I wouldn't call it beef,” Durant stated. “I just think he's mad opinionated and he feels his job is to be mad opinionated in a negative way against players. … I'm not saying you should only talk about the positives either, but when you clearly show bias that you're trying to take away from what the players have done, it just looks corny on his part.”
Ironically enough, Kevin Durant now plays for the Sun, the same team Barkley went to the NBA Finals with. KD certainly respects everything Barkley did as a player and especially for Phoenix — it's just his approach as an analyst that he doesn't agree with.
“He's a f*****g legend that I've got nothing but respect for,” Durant added. “When I look up, I'm gonna play with pride knowing that he put blood, sweat and tears into this organization.
“That ain't got nothing to do with how he is as an analyst. I don't agree with how he approaches the game as a Hall of Famer. His game as an analyst, I don't really f**k with your approach. That's my opinion on you just like your opinion on us.”