Draymond Green sat in for Shaquille O’Neal on “Inside the NBA” one day last week, and besides making the show 20 percent better engaged in some verbal sparring with Charles Barkley.
Barkley declared that the run by Green’s Golden State Warriors – “one of the greatest runs ever,” he said – had come to an end, and well, no kidding. The Dubs won 37 games this season, Stephen Curry is 38 and Green is 36.
“If you want to compete, you’re gonna have to leave there,” Barkley told Draymond. “If Steph wants to compete, he’s gonna have to leave there. You’re gonna have to make that decision.”
“I think the goal,” Green replied, “is to not look like you in a Houston Rockets’ uniform.”
The kids would likely refer to that as a sick burn, because here is what Barkley looked like as a Rocket, with whom he played the last three-plus of his 16 seasons. He was puffy and out of shape, and no longer the force of nature he had been while spending his first eight NBA seasons with the Sixers, and four in Phoenix.
All he was, was a guy chasing a ring on a team that included some other past-their-prime stars in Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler and (following Drexler’s retirement in 1998) Scottie Pippen.
So Green’s point is that he would rather finish out his career with the Warriors as opposed to hunting for hardware, as Barkley clearly did. And that makes sense, as he has already won four titles in 14 seasons, so there’s no need to go looking for another.
Barkley, of course, never won any. The closest he came was 1992-93, when he was named MVP while leading the Suns to the Finals, in his first season in Phoenix after a lopsided trade from the Sixers. But there they ran into Michael Jordan’s Bulls, and that was that.
The closest he came in Houston was his first season (‘96-97), when the Rockets lost to Utah in the Western Conference Finals. (And Utah went on to lose, of course, to the Bulls in the Finals.)
Barkley’s approach is as understandable as Green’s stance is defensible. Barkley clamored to get out of Philly in 1992, knowing the Sixers were going nowhere. Fair enough. He will neither be the first nor the last superstar to pull that stunt.
Green, a brilliant defender and playmaker, landed in the perfect spot coming out of Michigan State as a second-round pick in 2012. I mean, think about it – if he had been chosen by, say, the Sacramento Kings, he would likely be on his fifth team by now.
But no, he played with Steph. And Klay Thompson. And, for a time, Kevin Durant. And it was magical and mesmerizing and just a whole lot of fun. Comedian Jeff Ross referenced that during a roast of Kevin Hart last weekend that also featured Green, saying Curry was unable to attend.
“But,” Ross added, “he did carry Draymond Green all the way here.”
Which is hilarious and not the least bit true. Green has never been a big scorer, but during the Warriors heyday he did all the defensive dirty work, while dutifully setting up Golden State’s squadron of shooters with his passing and screening. When they had it going on, as they so often did, they all seemed to see the court with the same eyes, resulting in some of the most beautiful basketball ever witnessed.
No wonder Green, who will be a free agent July 1, wants to stick around. No wonder he wants to try to recapture any magic that might remain, impossible as that might seem.
This is not to excuse his boorish behavior in the least. This is a man who, for starters, delivered a shot to LeBron James’ man region in the 2016 Finals, which went a long way toward turning the tide in Cleveland’s favor. And let’s face it, this is a guy who always seems to be in the middle of something.
But he does have his merits as a player, to that point that he will likely join Curry, Thompson, Durant and coach Steve Kerr in the Hall of Fame someday.
Barkley is already there, despite his own lapses in judgment. And this leads to a question, which radio/podcast host Dan Patrick tossed around on the air the other day: Of those two guys, whose career would you rather have? Would you rather be a team’s unquestioned centerpiece, as Barkley usually was, or a role player supreme on one of the greatest ensemble casts of all time?
Patrick and his guest, Hall of Famer Reggie Miller, had previously compared Green and another HOFer, Carmelo Anthony, causing Anthony to react as if he had been hit in his man region. He wrote on social media that weighing the two was “stupid as shit” and that Patrick was “bugging.”
But it is an interesting topic. Same for the Green-Barkley comparison, which Patrick raised after the “Inside” flare-up.
I can’t pretend to know the answer. I think it would be amazing to be able to do some of the things Barkley did on the court, because he was one of one – a guy who stood just under 6-5 but was nonetheless one of the fiercest rebounders ever, as well as a guy who was a runaway freight train in the open court.
At the same time Green has been an integral part of some incredible teams, while earning a pile of individual honors (Defensive Player of the Year in 2017, nine All-Defensive teams, four All-Star appearances).
So maybe I would lean, ever so slightly, in Green’s direction, while acknowledging how unique and special Barkley was as a player.
Except, ya know, for his time in a Rockets’ uniform.