During the Golden State Warriors' Game 2 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans, Warriors forward Draymond Green and Pelicans point guard Rajon Rondo got in each other's face as the first half came to a close. While watching footage of that incident, TNT analyst Charles Barkley said, "I just want somebody to punch him in the face."
It didn't take long for Draymond to learn of Barkley's comments, which he addressed during the post-game press conference. The reigning Defensive Player of the Year told reporters, "He's seen me a million times. If you feel that strongly about it then punch me in my face when you see me. If you're not going to punch me in my face when you see me then shut up. It's no different than somebody sitting behind a computer screen tweeting 'I'll knock you out' and you never see them in real life. Well he's seen me a bunch of times and he'll see me again this year. Punch me in the face when you see me or if not ... No one cares what you would've done. [You're] old and that is what it is so ... If you ain't going to punch me when you see me then stop talking about it."
Prior to last night's Utah Jazz vs Houston Rockets telecast, Barkley made an appearance on ESPN 1000 in Chicago to apologize for saying he wished somebody would punch Green in the face.
"I said something that I shouldn't have said," Barkley said on Waddle & Silvy on ESPN 1000 in Chicago. "I want to be man enough to apologize. I was 100 percent wrong."
"I wasn't literally going to fight an NBA player," he said. "If he took it like that, I apologize."
"Those guys who are irritants who are all good players, but they can be annoying at times," Barkley said. "But like I said, I was wrong when I said it, and I shouldn't have said it."