The opening night of TNT’s documentary The Arena covered some weighty topics including NBA players’ role in addressing social justice when they return to play, Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell fearing for his life after testing positive for COVID-19 and Dwayne Wade’s Tweets. But before they could start the in studio discussion, host Cari Champion asked panelist Charles Barkley and Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green to address their ongoing feud.
“Can you two get along?”
Champion’s question is a fair one, considering Barkley and Green’s history. Their feud started in the 2018 playoffs when Barkley became frustrated with Green’s style of play, causing the NBA on TNT analyst to say he wanted to punch Green in the face. Green welcomed Barkley to do just that the next time the pair met and they have been exchanging verbal jabs ever since.
They seemed to have put aside their differences aside in order to focus on the more pressing issues The Arena addresses.
“I like Draymond. I really do,” Barkley said. “He annoys me when he’s on the court because, well just ask him if he has ever committed a foul. For me, it was more that I’m on TV a lot of hours every day. I have to come up with things to talk about.”
Green, who said in USA Today that he and Barkley were not close friends, was not as conciliatory in his response, but admitted he respected Barkley.
“He’s a Black man, I respect him,” Green said. “The issue that I’ve had is, a lot of people watch the game of basketball and don’t know what they’re looking at. So when they look at Chuck or they look at different guys who have these platforms, they take what you’re saying and they listen to that and they run with that. So where as for me, it hasn’t necessarily affected my pockets, but there are a lot of guys in this league that people run with what guys say on these platforms, and it affects guys’ pockets, and that’s the issue that I’ve had.”
Green says he made his feelings known on Stephen Jackson’s All the Smoke podcast in April, but says there are more important issues at stake than his personal feelings.
“As a Black man, you got to support the next Black man. You can’t keep putting the next Black man down,” Green said. “I understand that there’s a job to do, but I also know I’ve done too many great things in this league and won a lot, to hear some of the stuff he has been saying about me.”
Champion ends the segment by pointedly asking if Barkley and Green still have a beef with one another.
“For the sake of unity, there is no beef,” Green said. “Absolutely none,” Barkley agreed.
The Arena continues nightly through Friday from 8-9pm on TNT.
