During the Thunder/Nuggets game in Denver on Thursday night, Jamal Murray broke Steven Adams’ ankles and sent him crashing to the floor with a series of moves that sent the Nuggets’ bench into a frenzy.
One fan who was watching at home responded to the move by comparing it to the time Shaquille O’Neal tried to knock Charles Barkley out.
It led to the Inside the NBA crew—and Shaq and Barkley, in particular—spending the first part of their Thunder/Nuggets halftime segment talking about what went down between Shaq and Chuck during a Lakers/Rockets game in 1999. It’s a topic they’ve touched on during the show before, but for those who might not remember what happened, you can watch the brawl that broke out between Shaq and Barkley below.
All of the talk about fighting led to Shaq challenging Barkley to a fight on the TNT set.
"Would you like to reenact it right now, 30 years later?"Â Shaq asked Barkley.
"Dude, I don’t want to hurt you," Barkley said in response. "Listen, I don’t want to beat you up. Then your mom is going to call me complaining."
It also led to Shaq proposing a charity boxing match between him and Barkley.
"You know what?" Shaq said. "I’m gonna get that. April 15. Me and Chuck. A big glove charity boxing match."
"No, I want the little gloves," Barkley said, "so I can ring your big-ass head!"
"Oh, you do?"Â Shaq said. "You want the little gloves? Okay."
And before Ernie Johnson was able to steer the conversation back to basketball, it ended with Shaq whispering a NSFW phrase in Barkley’s direction, live on the air. It originally sounded like Shaq said, "I'll fuck your ass up," to Barkley.
However, a Turner spokesperson reached out to Complex Sports on Friday and said Shaq did not use the word "fuck." After the show ended, Shaq told Inside the NBA producers he said, "I'll knock your ass up," to Barkley.
Shaq was likely just joking around. But this isn’t the first time Shaq and Barkley have talked about wanting to fight one another. During a tense moment in the middle of a show last spring, Shaq appeared to grow frustrated with comments Barkley made about him and threatened to punch him in the face.
So do these guys hate each other or…?
Doubtful. When the two former basketball stars aren't arguing with one another or bringing up the past, Shaq and Barkley are known for teaming up for hilarious segments, like this one about the Rockets’ bizarre invasion of the Clippers’ locker room.
But clearly, Shaq and Barkley also know how to get on each other’s last nerve, and that sometimes results in exchanges like this latest one.
You can check out the argument Shaq and Barkley had on Thursday night at the beginning of the clip posted above.
