Charles Barkley and Draymond Green weren’t on the best terms before 2020, with the former NBA MVP and the 3x NBA champion engaging in heated exchanges about the quality of their games, their success as players and many other things.
Chuck made headlines when he claimed he would punch Green in the face if he ran into him. After that, he roasted Dray saying he always recorded ‘triple singles,’ but Draymond never backed down. He constantly reminded Chuck that he was ringless, while he took three rings home with the Golden State Warriors.
When they worked together during the Orlando bubble, everybody believed the two legends would go at it at some point, which never happened. They said some things to each other’s faces and that was it. They even claimed there was no beef, so everything we saw wasn’t that serious.
If there was any beef, they made sure to squash it after working together on TNT. Draymond Green and Steve Kerr talked with The Athletic to pay homage to Chuck, who is ranked 22nd of all time by the site. Talking about their relationship, the Warriors star made it clear that working with Chuck changed his perception about the 1993 NBA MVP.
“If you don’t like Charles Barkley after meeting him,” Green said, “then something’s wrong with you.”
Green also shared a story of Barkley he heard from Joe Dumars. At the time, Dumars didn’t try to dunk the ball, and when he tried to do it, Barkley made sure he never do it again.
“You know a funny story Joe Dumars once told me about Barkley?” Green said, referring to the former Pistons legend, one of Green’s basketball mentors. “Joe D said, ‘I never used to dunk the ball. That wasn’t me. I never used to dunk the ball. But one day, we were playing Barkley.’ I think Barkley was still in Philly. He said, ‘I caught the ball in the paint, went up to dunk it. Barkley came out of nowhere and all I heard was: Give me that shit, Joe! That was my last time trying to dunk in traffic.’”
It’s really great to see they are on good terms now. Green and Barkley are hilarious on their own. Imagine if they join forces on TV. They could make a terrific duo, but that’s still to be seen. Right now, Green is sidelined due to an injury, with the Golden State Warriors missing him in the past couple of games.
Meanwhile, Barkley keeps working, entertaining fans alongside Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson on TNT’s Inside the NBA.
