“How I’m a do Charles Barkley in 2024”: Shaquille O'Neal jokes about catching TNT co-host off guard with bitch-slap
At the beginning of 2024, Shaquille O'Neal posted a video playfully teasing Charles Barkley about what he plans to do to him when they meet again on Inside the NBA.
O'Neal shared a video that showed one person greeting another with a "bitch-slap" to the face.
O'Neal captioned the video,
"This [is] how I’m a do Charles Barkley in 2024."
O'Neal clarified, though, that he was joking.
"These are just jokes. Let’s love each other in 2024."
Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley: Rivals as athletes and analysts
Since Shaquille O'Neal joined the Inside the NBA team during the 2011–2012 season, the panel has kept on pushing the narrative that he and Charles Barkley are rivals.
This stemmed from a brawl they had during the 1999 season, when they were still playing for the LA Lakers and the Houston Rockets.
Interestingly enough, the game was nationally televised on TBS, the sister station of TNT, which broadcasts the Inside the NBA show now.
O'Neal and Barkley, who were teammates on Team USA's gold-medal-winning team in Atlanta in 1996, eventually patched things up and became friends.
This did not stop them from having heated arguments on Inside the NBA, especially since Barkley, who has been on the show since 2000, is known for his hot takes.
Shaquille O'Neal, Charles Barkley's Inside the NBA, back on Thursday night
The Inside the NBA shows, hosted by Shaquille O'Neal, Charles Barkley, Ernie Johnson, and Kenny Smith, return on Thursday night for two games.
The Milwaukee Bucks will travel south to take on the San Antonio Spurs in the first game at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time, while the Denver Nuggets clash with the Golden State Warriors in the second game at 10 p.m. Eastern Time.
With no more NFL games to be played on Thursday night for the rest of its season, the Inside the NBA broadcast is returning to its usual timeslots on the said night.
One exception will be on Jan. 15, a Monday night, as Inside the NBA will have an early edition during its Martin Luther King Jr. Day broadcast that will see the San Antonio Spurs battling the Atlanta Hawks and the Golden State Warriors clashing with the Memphis Grizzlies in the two games to be aired on TNT.