Klay Thompson Defends Kevin Durant Against 'Bus Rider' Comments: "It Bothers Me When People Don't Talk About Kevin's Greatness"

Klay Thompson has come in Kevin Durant's defense after the Brooklyn Nets superstar was heavily criticized after the Golden State Warriors secured the 2022 NBA championship. It's been three years since Durant left the Warriors to join the Nets, and he's yet to play in a Conference Finals with his new team. 

This situation earned the 2x NBA champion a lot of criticism, with Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neal going in, trolling the 2014 NBA MVP, calling him a 'bus rider' instead of a bus driver. 

Barkley, especially, claimed that Durant joined a team that already had a driver to have an easier path to the championship. Obviously, KD took offense to that and engaged in a heated back-and-forth with Chuck, taking shots at him on social media.

Klay Thompson Defends Kevin Durant Against 'Bus Rider' Comments

Former teammate Klay Thompson decided to speak up on this, defending Durant against these comments, and reminding people that Kevin Durant is an all-time great player who did whatever he wanted during the 2017 and 2019 NBA Finals. Klay was the most recent guest on SHOWTIME's "All the Smoke," and had this to say (50:30):

"That's why it bothers me when people don't talk about Kevin's greatness," Thompson said at the 1:03:40 mark. "This man averaged 35 and 15 in the Finals. ... That's like Shaq numbers. Like, what are we doing here? It's like, 'He's a bus rider' and all this stuff. You can't argue with the numbers. 35 and 15."

Kevin Durant was on another level during those years. He dominated the Cleveland Cavaliers at pleasure, hitting big shots after big shots, winning Finals MVP honors in each edition of the big series. 

Many people will argue against his championships, but he won them and there's nothing we can do or say that will change that. Durant is an NBA champion, and he's ready to keep winning. However, nobody expects this run to be as magical as the ones in 2017 and 2018.