Draymond Green’s fiery, outspoken demeanor has drawn comparisons between the Golden State power forward and Hall of Fame power forward Charles Barkley who now works as a TNT analyst.
When asked if he’s the modern-day Barkley following Sunday’s practice, Green was clear on his stance: “Hell no. I’m the modern-day Draymond Green.”
While the two share the same position and the same penchant to get under opponents’ skin, Green insists that Barkley had no influence on him. He wasn’t even a fan.
“I wasn’t a Charles Barkley fan growing up. No disrespect to Chuck. He’s a great player, but as I got older, I watched his game because I knew he was undersized and the things that he could do, I tried to add some of that stuff to my game. But nah, he didn’t influence me at all.”
As far as where he gets his no filter, take no prisoner demeanor from, Green credits his upbringing.
“[Chuck] told y’all in ’90-what that he wasn’t your kid’s role model anyway … so there you have it,” Green said. “He wasn’t my role model. I grew up in Saginaw, Michigan. … That’s what you do, you talk. You talk junk during basketball. That’s how I was raised. I was raised in a family like that, so I didn’t need a Charles Barkley to influence me.”
That’s a mouthful, but that’s Draymond.
Flip the page for the full interview and Draymond’s thoughts on his plans to coach or commentate.