NBA legend and TNT analyst Charles Barkley wasn’t amused by some recent comments that Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green made.
Green recently asserted that he gets preferential treatment from officials during games and doesn’t worry about getting ejected for being too physical. Barkley took issue with that and told reporters this week that if opponents just “clock” Green once early, he’ll stop playing with that mentality.
“You just have to clock him one time, with a good shot,” Barkley said, via the San Francisco Chronicle. “Draymond reminds me of Dennis Rodman. Anytime I’d play against Rodman, I’d hit him as hard as I could early in the game, and he would stop all of those antics. I’d do the same thing against Draymond.”
Barkley added that Green’s recent fouling against the Celtics where he avoided ejection really annoyed some former NBA officials he spoke to. He said that the people he spoke to were “pissed” at Green’s attitude.
“I think that was a huge mistake,” Barkley said. “I have some friends who are retired officials, and they were pissed. They were texting me during the game, saying ‘What the hell is up (with Green)? Why don’t they just toss this dude? He can’t be out there acting like a damn fool.’
“I respect these guys, they were officials for 30 years, and they said he should have been tossed a long time ago. And then for him to come out after the game and say, ‘Oh, I knew they weren’t going to toss me after the first technical.’ … I really think Draymond has to be very careful.”
Draymond Green may have caused more controversy than he was hoping to with those statements he recently made. We’ll see if the NBA officials start treating him even harsher in response.
Do you agree with Charles Barkley’s statement here?