Draymond Green’s New Found Love For State Of Minnesota Could Agitate TNT Colleague Charles Barkley

Ever since he signed a deal with Turner Sports in 2022, Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green has been making several appearances on the highly popular ‘Inside the NBA’ show. This allowed him to form a brief but close professional association with former Philadelphia 76ers player Charles Barkley, who has been a part of the TNT show for over two decades. While they would often agree on several issues, the duo would also keep their viewers entertained by humorously bickering on specific topics from time to time. From Green taking a shot at Barkley’s ‘zero NBA titles’ to the latter roasting his counterpart for not making it to the playoffs, their most recent interactions surely brought a smile to the faces of many. However, Green’s recent remarks about the state of Minnesota may or may not end up agitating his co-host.

A few hours ago, the Warriors power forward released another episode of his long-running show. He kicked off the segment by highlighting the ongoing Conference Finals between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Dallas Mavericks. With the score at 3-1 in favor of the Mavericks, Game 5 will now have both teams return to Minnesota to compete in the Target Center Arena. This conversation brought Green to discuss the state as a whole, which he recently discovered is also known as the “Land of 10,000 Lakes”. Given that the player hails from Michigan, the state with many ‘Great Lakes’, this fact about the Timberwolves’ home state fascinated him.

“I just didn’t know like anyone had anything about their state that was anything about lakes,” said Green. “And so, I gained a little more love for the state of Minnesota because y’all a lot like us”.

With this new appreciation for the state’s lakes, the four-time NBA champion may be glad to return to Minnesota to cover Game 5. However, the one person who may not share his enthusiasm is Charles Barkley. It’s not because he does not feel the same fascination with lakes but because the cold weather would make it hard to appreciate anything. During Game 4, with the ‘Inside the NBA’ crew assembled around one table, the former player proposed a way to ensure that the Mavericks recorded their fourth consecutive win.

“If I’m Jason Kidd, I’m not going to talk about stats at halftime,” said Barkley. “I’m just going to show them the weather in Minnesota that’s snowing and say, ‘Y’all don’t want to go back to this, do you?’ That’s all I’d say: ‘Guys, it’s snowing in Minnesota. It’s hot as hell down here in Dallas, but it’s better than snow. Let’s get this thing over with.’”

As it turned out later, Charles Barkley was duped into believing it was snowing in Minnesota. He even had to ask someone for confirmation when co-host Ernie Johnson pointed it out. However, snowing or not, the former NBA star made it clear that he would not be looking forward to Minnesota’s cold weather.

Charles Barkley once aimed San Francisco in front of Draymond Green Draymond Green

This is not the first time that the two members of the NBA fraternity have chosen to hold contrasting opinions on a particular place. Back in February 2024, during the All-Star Game, Green was back with TNT to provide insights from the main action’s behind-the-scenes. With Charles Barkley and former Indiana Pacers star Reggie Miller joining in. The conversation around the TNT table shifted to discussing Indianapolis as the chosen venue for the All-Star Game. Barkley highlighted his disdain for the state due to its cold weather. However, he quickly changed his tune after learning where the next All-Star game will be held: San Francisco.

“Hey Reggie, if you had a chance of being in the cold, or being around a bunch of homeless crooks in San Francisco, which would you take?” said Barkley. “You can’t even walk around down there”.

No sooner had the words left his mouth when everyone at the table, including Draymond Green, let out an audible disagreement. It certainly would not have felt right with the NBA player, who has represented the Golden State Warriors for over 12 years. To his credit, however, Green took the remark in stride and even joked back by stating “Yes, you can walk around, yeah, with a bulletproof vest.”

Game 5 of the Timberwolves-Mavericks series is set to take place a few hours from now.  As Green and Barkley will reunite, it remains to be seen whether their differentiating opinions on Minnesota will turn up or not.