\n<\/p>\n
When Charles Barkley, the quippy commentator on TNT\u2019s \u201cInside the NBA\u201d studio show, grew tired of Draymond Green\u2019s aggressive on-court antics several years ago, he made it exceedingly clear that he wanted to punch Green in the face<\/a>.<\/p>\n Green responded during a postgame news conference by calling Barkley\u2019s bluff<\/a>, telling the Hall of Fame player known for his rebounding prowess to \u201cshut up.\u201d \u201cNo one cares what you would have done,\u201d Green said. \u201cYou old, and it is what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n Verbal jousting in response to Barkley\u2019s wisecracks has been commonplace during his two-decade tenure on \u201cInside the NBA,\u201d which is in jeopardy of ending<\/a> as soon as Thursday night because competing networks are negotiating for the N.B.A.\u2019s media rights.<\/p>\n Green, a four-time N.B.A. champion, said in an interview that any wounded feelings spoke to the reverence players have for Barkley and his colleagues, the former players Shaquille O\u2019Neal and Kenny Smith, and the veteran host, Ernie Johnson.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt\u2019s almost like a rite of passage,\u201d Green said of being criticized or praised by basketball heavyweights on national television. \u201cI think N.B.A. players look to that show for validation, and that\u2019s a reason so many guys could get upset when things don\u2019t go their way.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The future of \u201cInside the NBA\u201d is uncertain because Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of TNT Sports, failed to reach an agreement with the N.B.A. during an exclusive negotiation window to renew its media rights.<\/p>\n If the Dallas Mavericks clinch the Western Conference finals on Thursday night, it could be the final broadcast for the current TNT lineup. \u201cInside the NBA\u201d will return next season, but Barkley has said his contract allows him to leave<\/a> if TNT loses the media rights.<\/p>\n As the Emmy-winning show\u2019s fate crystallizes, players said that Barkley\u2019s chemistry with his fellow hosts and his unsparing criticism have been a model for athletes making the transition into television and podcasting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI think people say stuff for clicks and views, and it\u2019s not very authentic, and this is something that is very authentic,\u201d said Matt Barnes, a 16-season N.B.A. veteran and a host of the \u201cAll the Smoke\u201d podcast. \u201cI think they\u2019re the blueprint of just having good conversation with your friends.\u201d<\/p>\n For all of Barkley\u2019s provocations, he can also be a good sport. After inaccurately predicting that Barnes\u2019s team would lose in the first round of the 2007 playoffs, he wore a Golden State Warriors T-shirt on air<\/a> as penance.<\/p>\n Barkley\u2019s feud with Green lasted more than two years until Green made appearances as a commentator for TNT during the 2021 playoffs and other programming<\/a> in the previous months. The following year, Green signed a multiyear contract with the network. He said that watching how Barkley interacted with the show\u2019s support staff \u2014 \u201che knows everyone\u2019s name\u201d \u2014 and talking with him behind the scenes changed his perspective.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Of Barkley\u2019s barbs, Green said, \u201cAs players, that can get frustrating at times, but on the same token, you have to respect it when it comes from a real place.\u201d He added, \u201cCharles is a jokester, so he\u2019s going to add some color that you may not like.\u201d<\/p>\n Others without that relationship disagree. After Barkley called Kevin Durant \u201csensitive\u201d during a \u201c60 Minutes\u201d interview last year, saying \u201che\u2019s part of that generation who think he can\u2019t be criticized,\u201d Durant jabbed back on social media<\/a>: \u201cThis ain\u2019t gettin tiring chuck? I\u2019ll never respect the words that come out ya mouth fam just deal with it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Barkley, Smith and O\u2019Neal have also repeatedly denounced the fitness level and weight of Zion Williamson. \u201cIt looks like me and Shaq had a baby,\u201d Barkley said in 2021<\/a>, causing O\u2019Neal to erupt in laughter.<\/p>\n Criticism from O\u2019Neal and Barkley can particularly sting because of their on-court legacies, said Barnes, who called them two of the best players in history. O\u2019Neal won four N.B.A. titles, and though Barkley never won a championship \u2014 a common rebuttal from his targets \u2014 he was the league\u2019s most valuable player in 1993 and an 11-time All-Star.<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t always have to agree, but you have to, in a sense, respect it because of the work that they put in,\u201d Jayson Tatum told \u201cCBS Mornings\u201d in February<\/a> after Barkley questioned the Boston Celtics\u2019 mental toughness. (The Celtics have gone 12-2 in the playoffs while advancing to the N.B.A. finals.)<\/p>\n The success of \u201cInside the NBA\u201d paved the way for other athletes to join the entertainment industry, Green said. Its freewheeling, conversational tone was in many ways a precursor to the thriving ecosystem of podcasts hosted by N.B.A. players. Barkley has been interviewed on both \u201cAll the Smoke<\/a>\u201d and Green\u2019s podcast, \u201cThe Draymond Green Show<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Green said that early in his moonlighting as a TNT broadcaster, he critiqued the defensive effort of Nikola Jokic, who later approached him to say he respected Green\u2019s take.<\/p>\n The moment encouraged Green that he could be respectfully critical of his peers, a lesson he said that Barkley, O\u2019Neal and Smith demonstrate. \u201cThe truth may sometimes piss people off, but that can\u2019t stop you from doing the job,\u201d Green said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n