Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green and Inside the NBA commentator Charles Barkley do not—despite their obvious similarities—like each other. They've traded verbal jabs more than a few times, and earlier this postseason Green challenged Barkley to walk the walk and actually punch him.
Barkley loves poking the bear, so when Inside the NBA had Warriors forward Kevin Durant was on the show after Golden State's Game 3 win Sunday, Barkley asked if Draymond is "as annoying" in person as he is on TV.
"You should go talk to him downstairs," Durant answered. "I mean, he's downstairs, you can go ask him."
Kenny Smith and Shaq loved the suggestion: go downstairs and talk to Draymond, they echoed. Barkley just laughed it off.
Charles Barkley when he finally goes downstairs to see Draymond... pic.twitter.com/i5bwwsSb1U
Durant explained that "it's not joke time all the time," but said he doesn't think Barkley is unfair to Draymond.
Kevin Durant on standing for Draymond Green to Charles Barkley pic.twitter.com/cJIkuCyXQS
Game 3 was a pretty anticlimactic affair—Golden State dominated, easily securing a 126-85 win at Oracle Arena—so Barkley was likely trying to drum up something interesting. It seems the Warriors have decided to respond to any of Barkley's jabs at Draymond with a simple, "say it to him in person."
Though Draymond has made it quite clear he doesn't like Chuck, his coach, Steve Kerr, who formerly worked for TNT, recently said he thinks Draymond is "going to be the next Charles Barkley."
Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals will take place Tuesday at 9 p.m. EST.
TNT will again have coverage. The Warriors will seek a commanding 3-1 lead, while the Rockets will attempt to knot up the series before it heads back to Houston.
