The war of words between Golden State star Draymond Green and TNT analyst Charles Barkley finally came to an end.
When reached by phone on Wednesday afternoon, Barkley – the Hall of Famer who said on Tuesday night’s telecast that he wanted to “punch (Green) in the face so bad” and sparked a strong reaction from the Warriors forward – told USA TODAY Sports that he planned to apologize. Barkley did just that ahead of Wednesday night's Game 2 between Houston and Utah.
“I’m going to apologize to Draymond tonight,” said Barkley, who made the comments during the halftime show of Game 2 between the Warriors and New Orleans in the Western Conference semifinals. “You know listen, I like Draymond. I like Draymond a lot, actually, but I shouldn’t have said that. He’s annoying, but I shouldn’t have said that. So I’m going to apologize to Draymond tonight.
“I saw how America took (his comment), like I was physically threatening Draymond. …I meant it, but I wasn’t going to actually physically punch the guy in the face. Listen, I like the kid. He’s annoying – I want to make that perfectly clear. But I hate when people try to change the narrative. I was thinking that, but I shouldn’t have said it. Plain and simple.”
“I’m going to apologize to Draymond and his Mom, because his Mom (Mary Babers-Green) said some stuff on Twitter today I heard about,” Barkley said. “She said, ‘Oh Barkley, I dare you…’
“Listen, I don’t get offended by anything. My job is not to become part of the story, and I did, and I was wrong for that.”
After Tuesday night's win over the Pelicans, Green commented after hearing what Barkley had said on the broadcast.
“A lot of guys talk on TV, stand behind a microphone and a TV screen," Green said. "The fact of the matter is if you feel that strongly about something, he’s seen me a million times. If you feel that strongly about it, then punch me in my face when you see me.
“If you’re not going to punch me in my face when you see me, then shut up. It’s no different than somebody sitting behind a computer screen tweeting, ‘I’ll knock you out,’ and you never seen them in life. But he’s seen me a bunch of times, and he’ll see me again this year. Punch me in the face when you see me, or if not no one cares what you would have done. You old and it is what is. So if you ain’t going to punch me when you see me, then stop talking about it. Period.”