Fueling the fun on TNT’s Inside the NBA is the playful banter between the hosts, who freely jab at each other’s basketball achievements (or lack thereof). The show thrives not only on its basketball acumen but also on the comedic clashes, mainly between Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal.
Barkley throws hilarious shade at Shaq, threatening him with Katt Williams roasts. Meanwhile, Shaq counters in his own playful way, tempting his fellow analyst with Diet Coke treachery despite having a deal with Pepsi.
Both Shaq and Sir Charles know how to get underneath each other’s skin. And Friday saw Shaq doing just that. As the NBA Hall of Famer broke bread with Philadephia Eagles center Jason Kelce, he made sure to throw Barkley under the bus with a pointed message shared by Kelce’s podcast New Heights on Twitter/X.
https://twitter.com/newheightshow/status/1756092799072756076?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1756092799072756076%7Ctwgr%5E5fd5d729c025569aff6da7fa23970349ee23569e%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Furl%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fnewheightshow%2Fstatus%2F1756092799072756076
“Hey, Charles, you know what me and Jason have in common, and you don’t?” asked Shaq.
Shaq’s playful jab was barely uttered before Kelce erupted in laughter. With tongue in cheek, Shaq pointed to his championship ring, a constant reminder of Barkley’s lack of hardware. While Barkley famously boasts no rings, Shaq reigns supreme with four: three with the Lakers (2000, 2001, 2002), where he swept the Finals MVP awards, and another with the Miami Heat in 2006.
And Kelce earned his with the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LII. Though the Prime Video documentary Kelce at Amazo chronicled Jason’s desperate search for his elusive Super Bowl LII ring, the precious symbol of victory remained frustratingly out of reach.
Jason Kelce’s Super Bowl ring seems to have a mind of its own, turning up in his wife’s glove compartment one day and a humble sock the next.
But as O’Neal alluded to, Barkley doesn’t have that problem. And O’Neal even took the liberty of trying on Kelce’s ring.
We’ll have to see how Sir Charles responds because, ultimately, he’ll pull no punches.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.