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“Put on a Pair of Skis, Go Up to Our Beautiful Mountains”: Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal’s Controversial Claim on ‘Boring’ Salt Lake City Has Citizens Enraged

Published 02/21/2023, 2:10 PM EST

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The Vivint Arena located in Salt Lake City, Utah was the 2023 NBA All-Star host. While the weekend lived up to expectations, numerous fans around the world were disappointed. The city came under scrutiny from a lot of fans and experts for not having enough parties and being very boring. Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley seemed to agree on this notion. During their coverage of the sporting extravaganza, Barkley labeled Salt Lake City as ‘boring’.

Moreover, Shaq seemed to agree with the NBA Hall of Famer. Naturally, this has the locals of Salt Lake City enraged. In a survey conducted by Fox News Utah, some local residents gave their thoughts on Barkley’s claims. Safe to say, they didn’t seem happy.

Local citizens bash Charles Barkley for his controversial claim

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Former MVP and NBA legend Charles Barkley is known for his hot takes which sometimes land him into trouble. Along with Shaquille O’Neal, the two never fail to mock and bash anything they do not find of their liking.

The latest victim of Shaq and Chuck was Salt Lake City. The 2023 NBA All-Star host city has some stringent laws regarding smoking and drinking which does not suit everyone.

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Chuck made sure he let everyone know what he thinks about the city. “These people are going to heaven. Ain’t nothing to do in this boring ass city”, said Barkley during the live broadcast.

Interestingly enough, Shaq seemed to agree. He said, “I never ate so much room service in my life.” Local residents certainly did not like the two NBA legends talking ill about their city.

Fox 13 News Utah interviewed a number of locals and asked for their views on Chuck’s comments. A local citizen said, “Strongly disagree. Put on a pair of skis, go up into our beautiful mountains. There is plenty to do here.” Most of the people interviewed by Fox 13 News Utah had a similar argument to Barkley’s claim. Interestingly, Salt Lake City is not the first city to be violated by Barkley.

Barkley once violated the entire city of San Antonio

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Salt Lake City is not the only city in the United States of America that came under the fire of Barkley. During a segment of ‘Inside the NBA’, he had a wild claim about San Antonio and the women living there.

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Chuck said, “I’m telling you, man they be whooping down those churros..it took her all day it took her all day to find five skinny women out there. Los Angeles Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal went into a laughing fit after Barkley’s wild claims. Regardless of whether he is right or not, Barkley certainly isn’t scared of putting his honest thoughts out in the open.

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What is your favorite memory of Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal? Let us know in the comments down below.

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Written by:

Abhinava Ghosh

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Abhinava is an NBA writer for EssentiallySports. He is currently pursuing his Bachelor's in Journalism and Mass Communication. Abhinava has been following NBA for the past 6 years and is a huge fan of the Golden State Warriors and Stephen Curry.
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