Tensions flare between Draymond Green, Charles Barkley over Green’s NBA future

Credit: NBA Tip-Off on ESPN

Draymond Green made his return to Inside the NBA on Wednesday for the first time in a while, and it didn’t take long before the conversation got a little awkward between Green and the show’s star, Charles Barkley.

About halfway through the pregame show ahead of ESPN’s broadcast of Game 2 between the Philadelphia 76ers and New York Knicks, Inside pivoted to what was, effectively, an interview with Green about his future with the Golden State Warriors. When it was Barkley’s turn to chime in, he stated quite bluntly that the Warriors’ run was over.

“It’s over for the Warriors,” Barkley said. “No disrespect. It is for every old team. You have your run, you get old … it just passed you by. Y’all had one of the greatest runs ever.”

Given a chance to respond, Green acknowledged the future is uncertain, but didn’t seem to appreciate Barkley’s negativity.

As the conversation progressed, Green sniped back with a shot at Barkley’s final years in the NBA.

“I think the goal is just to not look like you in the Houston Rockets uniform,” Green said with a smirk.

While Barkley offered a meek “yeah” in response, he notably did not speak the rest of the segment.

As Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch noted, the back-and-forth had a sharper tone than the usual joking on Inside, which often is between Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal.