Draymond Green had an awkward and tense segment this past week on ESPN, where he filled in for Shaquille O’Neal on “Inside the NBA” alongside Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, and Charles Barkley.
After Barkley expressed his opinion that the Golden State Warriors‘ dynasty was over, since players weren’t winning championships at “37, 38 years old,” Green responded with comments about the NBA legend.
He suggested nobody wanted to look the way Barkley did in a Houston Rockets jersey, which is where he played the last four seasons of his Hall of Fame career.
That led to backlash for Green, with many people believing his comments were related to Barkley’s performance and stats during the final stages of his career.
However, Green recently appeared on his podcast to explain what his remarks were about and called out his critics for their response to his on-air comments.
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“I think I want to provide a little bit of clarity of what I was saying,” he said at the start of his podcast.
According to Green, he and Kenny Smith spoke about it, and Smith thought Green was saying nobody wants to look like “the Houston Rockets now,” so Smith hadn’t understood Green was joking about Barkley. After learning about that, Green says Smith said he thought it was “hilarious.”
The Warriors star then went on to clarify what he was joking about regarding comments that Barkley had made before.
Green said it would’ve been dumb to say he “wouldn’t want to look like” Barkley his first two years with the Phoenix Suns, or his first two seasons with the Rockets.
“What Chuck makes fun about in his career is actually the last two years in Houston … He says, ‘Yeah, I sucked, man. I was out of shape. I was hurt, but I was gonna get that free money.’ That’s what he says,” Green explained on “The Draymond Green Show.”
However, the four-time NBA champion turned his attention to the backlash he received after his joke on ESPN, which he indicates was misunderstood and misinterpreted.
“I found that interesting, because what it shows is how bad y’all want me to do bad. That’s what it really shows is how much y’all wanna see me fall,” he indicated. “And I find that interesting because I’ve been up against that my whole life.”
“If you’re trying your hardest to make sure I fall, what are you doing with your life, and how’s that going?” he asked, adding moments later, “You’re not better than me at basketball. You’re not better than me at life.”
Based on Green’s remarks, it was a misunderstood comment; he meant it as a joke about things Barkley had previously said about his career. Unfortunately, they didn’t clear it up on the air or on social media.
Since they never clarified the awkward, tense moment on ESPN, it opened the floodgates for social media accounts to make a viral clip and for critics to jump on Green.
Since then, it’s resulted in Barkley speaking about it on podcasts and radio show interviews, where he shared that he isn’t “sensitive” and has made plenty of comments about players before, but never says anything “personal.”
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer also indicated that Green’s a great player, but isn’t a better player than he was during his NBA career, which everyone agrees with. And Green will certainly have his spot in the Hall of Fame, regardless of how many critics might be against him.
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