“I’m positive we had some rocky roads when Shaq first came on,” described Charles Barkley about his relationship with his best friend, Shaquille O’Neal. From arguing, to fighting, to boxing, and running, they have done it all inside and outside the studio. And now, with WBD in a legal battle with the league, there is hope and despair at the same time. However, in what currently seems to be the final season on TNT, Barkley cheekily praised his best friend.
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Before turning into an analyst, Shaq played 19 seasons in the NBA, during which he received widespread criticism. Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith are his co-hosts now, but they used to be his critics for about a decade before he joined the team. Once he joined the team in 2011, Shaquille O’Neal had plenty of ideas one after the other but had to stop.
“Yo man, are you trying to outdo yourself every damn night? And we had to sit down as a team and say ‘Shaq, it doesn’t work like we got too far to go. You’ve only been here two weeks.’ And like I say, that’s when we came out like this dude gonna set himself on fire any day now.” He even credited O’Neal for becoming a great addition, Barkley said on Podcast P with Paul George.
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WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, WV – JULY 02: Shaquille O’Neal (L) and Charles Barkley attend The Greenbrier for the gala opening of the Casino Club on July 2, 2010 in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. (Photo by Theo Wargo/WireImage for The Greenbrier)
They had to explain to the 4x NBA champion that it was a marathon. Appearing on TV in October all the way to the playoffs season was a long road. So the team had to explain to O’Neal to calm down. Reminiscing about their friendship, Charles Barkley admitted that bantering and provoking O’Neal is one highlight of his day.
Charles Barkley and Shaq haven’t announced their next move yet
The 76ers legend also pointed out that TNT allowed them to improve by giving them a longer rope to work with. As per Barkley, other networks constantly chop and change their lineup, which results in no connection with fans. It leads to a lack of chemistry among the panelists. Maybe that is why Inside the NBA is an Emmy Award show.
Although Barkley has seemingly announced his retirement, Shaq is coy about the future. “We had a lot of interesting people. You [Lefkoe] do a wonderful job, looking forward to working with you in the future. I don’t know what our future holds with this TNT thing, but I know we got one year left. So let’s just make it count and then yeah, we’ll see what happens after that,” Shaq said on The Big Podcast.
Even though O’Neal is unsure about TNT’s future, the company executives are very sure about retaining Charles Barkley. As per John Ourand, a business insider, David Zaslav is very high on keeping Barkley. With March Madness and NHL, where Barkley has already appeared, it is understandable that don’t want him to leave.
“Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger.”
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Jacob Gijy