Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal wouldn’t want to answer questions before a big playoff game. They don’t even want to be the ones asking the questions for TNT.
Minutes before Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals tipped off, New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby agreed to do a brief interview with TNT. It was undoubtedly a tense moment for Anunoby, with the Knicks trailing the Pacers 2-1 in the series and preparing to play in front of a raucous Indiana crowd.
Still, Anunoby showed up for the Q&A segment with Shaquille O’Neal, Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith. And when it was Smith’s turn to ask a question, he tried to offer Anunoby vote of confidence before passing the mic.
“The last guy who came up here, Mitchell Robinson, went bananas when he came here and spoke to us,” Smith said. “Hopefully the same thing happens to you. Get ready for the game. It’s tough to ask questions at this time, so I’m gonna pass it on to Chuck.”
Smith didn’t have a question for Anunoby, but after the interview came to an end, he did have a question for Barkley.
“Chuck, I have a question for you,” Smith said. “Could you do an interview before a game like that?”
And after Barkley offered a resounding “hell no,” Smith explained that’s why he didn’t have a question for Anunoby.
“I just don’t want to be the guy who messes his head up,” Smith said of the pregame interview with Anunoby. “That is a tough time to do an interview, man.”
Smith asked O’Neal the same question. And like Barkley, O’Neal definitively said, “No. I would never do it.”
O’Neal added that if he did a pregame interview and followed it up with a poor performance on the court, he’s at risk of being ripped for not being prepared enough for the game. But not wanting the NBA on TNT to look bad for asking Anunoby to do the interview, Ernie Johnson attempted to play mediator, noting some players are able to do those pregame interviews, some even want to do them.
The Knicks lost Game 4 in Indiana, but Anunoby’s pregame interview wasn’t the cause. Anunoby had his best offensive performance of the series, despite shooting just 1-7 from three.
It’s a tough spot. Many NBA players value consistency in their pregame rituals and routines to keep a positive mindset, and an interview on national TV doesn’t typically fit that schedule. But maybe Anunoby felt like he owed the media one after he sat down for his Game 3 postgame press conference and left awkwardly because no one had a question for him.