Charles Barkley Says Draymond Green's Good Player, Person, But Antics Must Stop

It's true ... the NBA is better with Draymond Green on the basketball court, according to Charles Barkley, who tells us the 4x champ is at a crossroads, and it's time to knock off the "antics."

TMZ Sports caught up with the Hall of Fame hooper in NYC Wednesday morning ... where we asked Chuck about 33-year-old Green's return to the Warriors following last month's squabble with Suns center Jusuf Nurkic.

“It's great to have Draymond back, great to have him back," Barkley said.

"He's a very good player, he's good for the NBA. I hope he gets rid of the antics because he’s a very good player and a good dude, but like I said, he's got to stop putting himself in bad situations."

Of course, aside from the 4 rings he won with Golden State, Green is a 4x NBA All-Star and former Defensive Player of the Year ... but, there have also been a handful of ugly incidents, many occurring on-court during games. There was also the Jordan Poole punch.

In fact, before the Nurkic hit, Green was suspended five games for putting Rudy Gobert in a headlock during an in-game fight with the Timberwolves.

Because of all that, Charles says Draymond must keep his nose clean going forward.

“Obviously, two big suspensions are a big deal. He’s got to walk a straight and narrow line. He’s just not been fair to himself and to his team.”

FWIW, it sounds like Green has gotten the message ... recently speaking about how he's grown during his month off.

There's more with the NBA legend ... we also talked to Barkley about NBA vet Dennis Schroder finally explaining how he fumbled an $84 million bag a few years back.