After the Celtics blew out the Heat in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals to extend the series back to Miami, the Inside the NBA crew closed the show with a segment where they all tried to read sentences in aggressive Boston accents.
Charles Barkley’s sentence featured Ernie at Fenway Park eating chowder on top of the Monster, which saw him mostly fumble over trying to say “Ernie” in a Boston accent, but also led him to discover there are seats on top of the Green Monster. It was at that point that he decided that’s a new goal of his, saying he “would love to sit on top of the monster,” which sent the world’s largest teenage boy, Shaquille O’Neal, into a hysterical fit of laughter.
Kenny Smith was also cracking up, realizing that Chuck was making yet another accidental viral moment with his phrasing, while Shaq nearly fell over on the other side of the desk. Ernie eventually realizes what’s happening and does his usual “c’mon Shaq” routine, while Chuck sits there oblivious as to what’s happening. Shaq even had a terrific callback to last week, asking for another tweet from “Jenna,” referencing when he delighted in Charles reading a Twitter user’s name of “Jenna Tuhls” in what was the closest thing you can get on TV to a Bart Simpson prank.
Shaq can never help himself in these moments, and while this one is pretty funny I’m not sure it is quite on the level of the all-time Inside the NBA phrasing moments with “when a guy’s banging you in the post” and “I smash Trix.”