Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley have the best ongoing banter in the entire league. The duo have been rivals on the court and friends off it for several years. They are known to mock each other constantly, so it was no surprise when The Chuckster called out The Big Diesel for his ‘Basketball IQ’ on the court.
Ernie Johnson and Barkley recently released the latest episode of their podcast, ‘The Steam Room.’ On the show, a fan called in with an intriguing question for Chuck.
With all circumstances being the same, who would be a better basketball player between Barkley and O’Neal if they were both six feet tall? The HOF’er Barkley replied with a blunt and brutal message to Shaq.
No question, I’m a better player. Shaq is one of the most physically imposing and dominating players of all time. But for strictly a basketball IQ, we’re not even on the same level… Just as a pure basketball player, I’m a much better basketball player… but I’ve never played against a player more physically imposing than Shaq. You know Shaq’s the biggest human being in the world.
Charles Barkley told Ernie Johnson
Charles Barkley stated that he believes that he is much superior to Shaquille O’Neal from a ‘pure basketball’ point of view. He went on to call out Shaq for his basketball IQ, claiming that he would ‘kill’ the 4x Champion on the court if they were both six feet tall.
However, Barkley did not fail to give O’Neal his flowers. He clarified that the 52-year-old is one of the most physically dominant player of all time. His physicality and size are what made him great, and stripping him of it would be a formula for disaster.
Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal set to return on air after once mocking ESPN
There has been much speculation about the possible retirement of Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal from TV. This came after TNT’s Inside the NBA show was set to discontinue after this season following Warner Bros. Discovery losing NBA broadcasting rights.
However, Chuck and Shaq aren’t going anywhere yet. Fans across the sports community rejoiced this weekend as Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery reached a deal to license the broadcast of Inside the NBA on ESPN and ABC.
The Inside the NBA crew talking about what it’d be like if the show was on ESPN was hilarious
-Advertisement-but now it’s more funny than I ever could’ve imagined pic.twitter.com/kEvOtHvEuW
— Kris Pursiainen (@krispursiainen) November 17, 2024
The show will remain on air for the foreseeable future, even though Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal had once mocked the idea of working for Disney. Barkley had mocked the idea of working ‘like a dog’ under ESPN.
He also mocked the possibility of doing a jingle to the theme of ESPN on the Inside the NBA show. Thankfully, those sentiments are surely behind him, as Barkley and the Crew are all set to return to air once again.
