Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal have been together on Inside the NBA for more than a decade. During that time, the two have used their friendship and chemistry to light up the show alongside Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson.
That banter has seen them take shots at each other without provocation. Especially the likes of Barkley and O’Neal, whose mothers are close friends, do not hesitate to go at each other, even if it means throwing insults.
They know at the end of the day the two will remain close friends. With the 2024-25 NBA season underway, the focus of fans has been on the future of Inside the NBA. When many thought that it could be the last season for this quartet, ESPN threw a life jacket.
With their future secured, the quartet were back at it again during this week’s Thursday broadcast. Aside from Barkley throwing some NSFW words to describe their future, the quartet decided to take shots at each other during a feature called, Suspect Challenge. As Barkley started to run, O’Neal made a hilarious remark.
Suspect is wanted by Ozempic, cause the drugs won’t work on his fat a**.
Shaquille O’Neal to Charles Barkley
This is the most the Inside Crew has run in 20 years 😭 #SuspectChallenge pic.twitter.com/SSoWvtbz6F
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) November 20, 2024
To this, Barkley retorted that he was using Mounjaro, another weight loss drug. But the younger Hall of Famer wanted to take a shot at his older ‘brother’ for taking the easy way out on losing weight. But Barkley has openly acknowledged his use of the drug in the past.
Charles Barkley hits back at Shaquille O’Neal
Then it was the turn of Johnson and Smith where both their NBA MVP winning colleagues took turns to throw some humor-based insults their way. But then, it was the turn of Shaquille O’Neal, who in the video was running the slowest of them all.
Suspect is gonna get really tired if you try to name all his kids.
Charles Barkley said to Shaquille O’Neal
Hearing this, the rest of the crew present laughed hysterically. Time and again the 61-year-old has used this joke on his good friend. But even then, every time O’Neal himself ends up laughing about it. Charles Barkley has even called out O’Neal for having unnatural names for his kids.
Later, Kenny Smith’s knees were not spared as four-time champion suggested they rub while he was running. Therefore, a call to the fire department was needed. But Smith got back at the big man suggesting he would get tired naming all the teams he played for.
All of this shows that the quartet have no lack of creativity when it comes to entertaining the audience. That comes from their more than a decade long chemistry and friendship. With ESPN securing their future, this should continue for the foreseeable future.
