LeBron James has the backing of one of his biggest NBA rivals in his ongoing feud with Charles Barkley.
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green called on James to “destroy” Barkley, and had his own harsh words for the player-turned-analyst.
“I’m all for destroying Barkley,” Green said, via Marcus Thompson II of the San Jose Mercury-News. “You know, Barkley talk a lot. A whole lot for a guy who has not won a championship. I think Shaq should talk about the champions. Kenny [Smith] should talk about the champions. Ernie [Johnson] can talk about the champions. When it comes time to speak about someone who has a championship, Barkley should be muted. You know how on ‘Around the Horn’ where they just ice somebody out on the screen? They should be be able to do that with Barkley any time the name of a champion come up.”
That said, Green thought James might have gone a touch too far in his criticisms.
“I thought that was incredible,” Green continued. “Then I looked back to see what Barkley said, and then my reaction was like, ‘Ah, Bron. I don’t know if it needed to go that deep, Bron.’ And for me to feel like that about Charles Barkley, Bron really had to cut deep.”
And James did indeed cut deep, clearly fed up with what he’d heard from Barkley over the years. Given Green’s reaction, there are probably some other players who were cheering James on, too.
