It’s been almost a whole year since someone on Inside the NBA beefed with a member of the Golden State Warriors, which meant we were due for some tomfoolery this postseason. On Tuesday night, we spun the wheel and landed on a Charles Barkley-Draymond Green feud that escalated very quickly.
It began when the TNT crew was discussing a jawing match between Green and Rajon Rondo and Barkley said, matter of factly, “I just want somebody to punch [Green] in the face.”
That comment made its way back to Green, as he was asked for his reaction to it in his postgame press conference following the 121-116 win over New Orleans in Game 2. Green, never one to shy away from some controversy, went right back at Barkley saying they’ve been in the same room plenty of times and Barkley can “punch me in my face when he sees me.”
Draymond Green invited Charles Barkley to try punching him in the face next time they see each other… 😬 https://t.co/lzFGBUmCvh
— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) May 2, 2018
“I think a lot of guys talk on TV, standing behind a microphone on a TV screen,” Green said. “The fact of the matter is, if you feel that strongly about something — he’s seen me a million times — if he feels that strongly about it then punch me in my face when you see me. If he’s not gonna punch me in my face when he sees me, then shut up. It’s no different than when somebody’s sitting behind a computer screen tweeting, ‘I’ll knock you out,’ and you never see them in life. Well, he’s seen me a bunch of times and he’ll see me again this year. Punch me in the face when you see me or not. Nobody cares what you would have done. You old and it is what it is. So if you ain’t gonna punch me when you see me then stop talking about it.”
It’s just the latest instance of players being frustrated by Barkley or Shaq or other former players that are now analysts that often use their platform to complain about the league today being soft. Green’s “you old and it is what it is” line is somewhat similar to Kevin Durant going at Shaq a year ago during the whole JaVale McGee-Shaq saga.
This drama will almost certainly not end with this statement from Green as Barkley will assuredly have a response the next time the Inside the NBA crew is on TV. Hopefully this doesn’t get as ugly as the Shaq-JaVale thing, but sadly it probably will if Barkley doesn’t let this go.
