“Kevin Durant Was Putting Shaquille O’Neal Numbers!”: Klay Thompson Defends Former Teammate Against ‘Bus Rider’ Accusations

Warriors’ Klay Thompson defends his former teammate against wild statements, shares how truly great Kevin Durant is

In the summer of 2016, the Golden State Warriors went from a team that blew a 3-1 lead in the Finals to the supervillains of the NBA. After finishing a 73-9 season, the Golden State Warriors had a fairytale path to the NBA Finals. However, they crashed and burned after establishing a commanding 3-1 lead.

Not soon after, they signed Kevin Durant as a free agent. This move had the whole NBA trembling and crying about how unfair the Warriors had become. The Dubs went on to win back-to-back NBA Championships. They were just two games shy of the first three-peat since Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant’s Lakers.

Klay Thompson, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala, and Shaun Livingston headlined the Dubs lineup.

Klay was recently on ‘All the Smoke’ where he talked about KD and his time on the Dubs.

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Klay Thompson speaks up for Kevin Durant over ‘bus driver’ talks

In KD’s three years on the Warriors, we saw how well the Warriors worked as a team and what they were willing to sacrifice individually to win as a team collectively. Stephen Curry had just won back-to-back MVPs and let KD take over as the GUY on the team.

Talking about all of it, Klay said,

“That’s why it bothers me when people don’t talk about Kevin’s greatness. This man averaged 35 and 15 in the Finals. That’s like Shaq numbers. What are we doing here, with all the ‘he’s a bus rider’ and all that? You cant argue with the numbers. 35 and 15! That was special bro, you just went into the game knowing he’s going to win it if you just handle your business.”

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The Warriors really had a special team, which went 16-1 in the Playoffs during the 2016-17 season and then followed it with a sweep in the Finals in 2017-18. It was a special special team, and everyone knew of it.

Was Kevin Durant the GUY on the Warriors?

Kevin Durant was the most lethal weapon on the Warriors from 2016-2019. He is a 6’10 monster who could score in the paint, from the mid-range, and from the deep. However, the entire Dubs offense ran through Stephen Curry.

Both the guys were vital to the team’s success, and as much as people like to pick one and discredit the other, I don’t like to think of it the same way. If KD wasn’t there, the Dubs weren’t winning back-to-back rings. At the same time, if KD didn’t join the Warriors, he wasn’t winning two rings in three seasons.

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Steph needed KD just as much as KD needed Steph.