Charles Barkley took his feud with the Warriors to this year’s All-Star Game, even with no Golden State players on the floor. The TNT commentator got into it with Draymond Green over the Warriors’ playoff hopes live on the air.
“The Golden State Warriors are cooked,” Barkley said to Green during the fourth quarter of Sunday night’s game.
But Green, who joined the TNT panel for the weekend festivities as an analyst and sideline reporter, was quick to refute Barkley’s claims.
“That’s crazy,” Green said. “You said that last year, but we all know you don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Barkley argued back, and Green kept pushing.
“You say that every year! You’ve said it every year since I’ve been in the league,” Green said.
Barkley has long been an outspoken critic of the Warriors and even leaned into his role as a Golden State villain throughout recent years. From his seat on the “Inside the NBA” panel during the playoffs last year, Barkley continually picked against the Warriors to advance and called San Francisco “hell” prior to the Western Conference Finals against the Dallas Mavericks.
His negative comments about the Bay Area date back to the “We Believe” season 16 years ago, when he downplayed the Warriors as the inferior California team to the Los Angeles Lakers. In 2015, Barkley said the Warriors’ jump-shooting style of play would not win them a title. They’d later prove him wrong, beating LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers then and three more titles since 2015.
The Warriors’ title defense year hasn’t gone smoothly. They’re 29-29 at the break, held back by injuries to All-Star Steph Curry, who missed Sunday’s game with a leg strain, Andrew Wiggins and trade acquisition Gary Payton II.
Barkley is quick with the Warriors hate whenever he smells blood, Green pointed out.
“That’s not true, but y’all are cooked now,” Barkley said. “Y’all are done.”
“That still leaves us four (NBA championships) ahead of you, boss,” Green said.