The Los Angeles Lakers won the quarterfinals of their in-season matchup. But that’s not even the biggest showdown so far. They’ve won Shaquille O’Neal the undisputed advantage of a lifetime. The big man is flexing his wrists and stretching his muscles for the most important matchup of his life. More important than any of his NBA Finals appearances.

He’s not giving Charles Barkley a moment of respite. Shaq’s pulling out the sinister tricks to get into Chuck’s mind. How I Met Your Mother fans, reunite for the biggest Slap Bet since Marshall and Barney closed theirs. After setting the date for their slap-tastic showdown, O’Neal and Barkley made it personal by wagering on their teams. On the line was the first slap honors. The Lakers beat the Suns 106-103, giving Shaq the PowerSlap advantage.

Instantly, O’Neal was on Instagram giving his viewpoint of tormenting Barkley. “i ain’t afraid chuck,” Shaq declared in the caption. But that wasn’t all. Drawing from the famous TikTok trend, O’Neal used the voiceover to threaten, “I’ll snatch your forehead the f**k off.” His demonstrative hand in front of the camera wagged threateningly at Chuck before miming exactly how he was going to snatch Barkley’s forehead.

Now The Round Mound of Rebound is not a social media user. He’s the grandad who shares occasional pictures of his kid’s kid on Facebook. He doesn’t know the TikTok trend. Hence he’s looking rather unfazed at Shaq’s threat. He was a little disturbed by the ‘forehead snatching.’

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Actually, Barkley had his headset on probably listening to the game before Inside the NBA resumed. He probably couldn’t hear O’Neal’s threat and he was understandably confused as to why Shaq was filming him with odd gestures. O’Neal is, in fact, reciprocating Barkley’s threat to “drop him like a sack of potatoes.”

Shaq vs Chuck is on

The Big Aristotle and Sir Charles had some heated on-court moments during their respective NBA careers. One call from Mama Barkley brought a truce, as Shaq recalled on his podcast. They stick to bantering, but clearly, they’re itching for a real fight.

They sent out a message to Dana White to make it official and the UFC titan pretty much confirmed it. The slap stars in question escalated from betting $15 million and $30 million on their teams to putting their pride on the line for the first slap.

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Barkley was exuding confidence in waves, claiming he’d take Shaq down in one strike. The 7’1″ giant was skeptical of that. And he’s now made it clear he ain’t afraid. Your move, Chuck.

Read More: “Me Against Shaq…”: Charles Barkley Has Hilarious Fight Request for UFC President Against Shaquille O’Neal