Sometimes it feels like the NBA Playoffs are just filler for the hijinks between Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley on Inside the NBA as opposed to the other way around.
Wednesday night, they were at it again. Barkley made a seemingly innocent comment that was filled with enough innuendo to briefly silence Shaq, causing him to hide his face full of laughter. Barkley, who is known for causing hilarity on set with his brash and unfiltered comments, doesn’t usually need to rely on innuendo for a laugh, but his “two balls” reference nearly broke Shaq Wednesday night.
It happened as Barkley attempted to give some rare, but legitimate basketball analysis on set, wrestling over whether the Memphis Grizzlies deserved more credit for winning their game or if the Los Angeles Lakers deserved more criticism for losing it.
“I’m kind of juggling two balls right here,” Barkley said, shuffling his hands up and down in. a way that emulated the Big Balls Dance from Major League II. But “juggling two balls” was enough to set Shaq off, who lost it like a teenager in grade school after hearing their teacher say “balls” for the first time.
“Is that what you’re trying to do?” Ernie Johnsons quickly asked, recognizing Barkley’s accidental innuendo that had Shaq and Kenny Smith cracking up.
Shaq struggled to gain his composure for nearly 30 seconds after hearing Barkley say, “Juggling two balls.” Barkley, meanwhile, was stone-faced throughout the ordeal. Didn’t even crack a smirk as he tried his best to continue offering some NBA insight for the audience, which made it seem like Barkley was just innocently juggling two balls and meant no innuendo by it.
About Brandon Contes
Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com