Last week, Shaquille O’Neal became the first player to have his jersey retired by the Orlando Magic, as the organization that he began his career with in 1992 put his No. 32 in the rafters at the Kia Center.
The ceremony was on a Tuesday night, when TNT had a doubleheader with Kings-Suns following the Thunder-Magic game. As such, Shaq’s retirement ceremony was shown in full on NBA TV rather than TNT, and that apparently had the big man a bit irked. At All-Star Saturday Night in Indianapolis, prior to going on air with an interview with Victor Wembanyama, Charles Barkley spent five minutes riling Shaq up about it in footage that leaked onto the internet and showed that the Inside crew is the exact same off air as on — just with more cursing.
Behind the scenes clip of Inside The NBA is absolutely hilarious pic.twitter.com/SfmeksjTR4
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod
(@big_business_) February 21, 2024
Chuck just won’t let Shaq move on, with O’Neal insisting he wasn’t really that mad but then getting progressively madder as Barkley kept prodding. Ernie and Kenny briefly try to take Shaq’s side before realizing Charles is right that there wasn’t a way to show it on TNT with a doubleheader, with Barkley delighting in the opportunity to keep winding Shaq up. He talks about how they’ll go on the road and make sure to cut into any live coverage for his jersey retirements in Boston, Cleveland, and Phoenix, making himself laugh each time. My favorite part is probably Ernie laughing at one of Chuck’s bits about Cleveland and then saying to Shaq “I’m not laughing at him, someone over there did something.”
It really is exactly like the show, just with cussing, and a reminder of why they work so well on TV because there isn’t anything done for show. They just naturally roast each other and can’t help but wind someone up when they find something that makes them mad, like all good friends should.