'The Arena': Charles Barkley and Draymond Green discuss relationship, Dwyane Wade addresses support of Nick Cannon
"The Arena," TNT's new nightly show launched in the lead-up to the restart of the NBA season, debuted Monday night and hit on a number of notable topics.
The show, hosted by Cari Champion and featuring a panel of Charles Barkley, Dwyane Wade and Draymond Green, is not limited in scope to the events that will go on in the Disney bubble. It will also focus on the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, as well as the Black Lives Matter movement and issues of systemic racism in the United States that have come to the forefront following several high-profile killings of Black people by police in recent months.
On the first episode, though, a potential elephant in the room had to be addressed: the often-contentious relationship between Sir Charles and the Golden State Warriors star.
"I've said many times, I like Draymond, I do," Barkley said, before adding: "He does annoy me at times on the court."
Said Green in response: "The issue I've had is, a lot of people watch the game of basketball and they don't know what they're looking at. So when they look at a Chuck or they look at different guys who have this platform, they take what you're saying and they listen to that and they run with that.
"For me, it hasn't necessarily affected my pockets, but there are a lot of guys in this league that people run with what guys say on these platforms, and it affects guys' pockets, and that's the issue I've had."
Other topics covered on the show:
Wade discussed a tweet of his that touched off some controversy, when he wrote "We are with you" and "Keep leading!" to longtime TV personality Nick Cannon. Cannon came under fire for anti-Semitic comments he made on a podcast.
"I got some education from friends that I appreciate and I thank you guys. If anybody felt that I was supporting hate speech, that's not who I am, that's not my character, but I will support another Black man that in America get thrown away all the time," Wade said.
San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, at 71 the oldest coach in the NBA, joined the program to discuss his concerns about restarting the season while the coronavirus pandemic rages on.
"I don't want to die," Popovich said. "I wear my mask all the time, I took it off to talk to you guys. It behooves each of us who might be a little bit older to take it very seriously. I wear my mask in practice, and I only take it off when I got something to say. Because I am concerned."
Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell detailed his battle with COVID-19:
There were also a number of social justice video essays, done by contributors Jemele Hill and Killer Mike, as well as a remembrance of late Rep. John Lewis.
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