According to Charles Barkley, Kevin Durant was not the Warriors’ hub or most valuable player, and he expressed it by saying he doesn’t think of him as a ‘bus driver’.
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Kevin Durant signed with Golden State as a free agent in 2016. His move to the Bay Area changed the power dynamic of the league completely. His first season with the franchise was the stuff of legend.
They became the winningest team in NBA playoff history, going on a 16-1 run to the NBA title. This includes a perfect 12-0 record in the Western Conference playoffs.
Kevin Durant was not the Warriors’ most important player: Charles Barkley
Appearing on the Dan Patrick show, Chuck said the Warriors’ most important spoke of the wheel was Steph Curry, and not Kevin Durant. Also, he recognized Draymond Green as the vocal leader of the team.
The topic of conversation came to ‘bus riders’ and ‘bus drivers’ when Patrick and Chuck began discussing Bill Russell’s teams. According to Patrick, the Celtics team that won 8 straight titles should give less credit to Bill Russell, since he had so many Hall of Famers with him.
Charles Barkley says KD has not moved up on his all-time list because he was a ‘bus rider’ in Golden State:
“You have to be a bus driver, you can’t be a bus rider… Kevin Durant is still a bus rider until he wins one in Brooklyn.”
(via @dpshow) pic.twitter.com/67KAW4aY0D
— Top Ball Coverage (@TopBallCoverage) October 8, 2020
But Chuck had a different opinion, saying he didn’t count them as they weren’t ‘bus drivers’, they were ‘bus riders’. He went on to use the same analogy with KD.
“To be on my Mount Rushmore, you have to be a bus driver, you have to be that key guy on your team. LeBron is on there because of that. Bill Russell is there because of that. Till KD wins one in Brooklyn, he won’t be a bus driver to me.”
This is despite Kevin Durant bagging 2 Finals MVP trophies by clear-cut margins during his time with Golden State. His performances in Game 3 of the 2017 and the 2018 NBA Finals sealed the trophies for him.
