Charles Barkley is not one to hold back while speaking his mind. One of the finest moves in the history of sports media was Turner Sports hiring him to work on Inside the NBA after he left the league as a Houston Rocket in 2000.
Putting him in the same sentence as someone like Kenny For NBAonTNT, Jet Smith and Ernie Johnson excelled. Shaquille O’Neal was added to the mix after he recently retired as a Celtic due to an Achilles injury as their final move to truly up the ante on the event.
When Shaq settled down with their foursome, there was no stopping them from consistently producing the funniest moments in all of sports television. The synergy that the Lakers icon has with Chuck is indescribable; they always seem to know what to do to, at the very least, make the audience giggle.
Additionally, see When Shaquille O’Neal Publicly Disrespected Jerry West Over a Contract Extension. Now You Gonna Pay Me $100 Million?
Shaquille O’Neal promises to pay Charles Barkley’s punishment when he swears on television.
In almost every episode of Inside the NBA, it seems as though Charles Barkley manages to stir up Ernie Johnson. In the most recent episode, Chuck was heard saying the term “a**hole” live on the air. He hilariously corrected himself and said the word Jacka** after Ernie attempted to stop him.
As might be expected, Shaquille O’Neal was furious after this encounter and vowed to pay Chuck’s impending FCC punishment for profanity on television.
Charles Barkley: “I don’t want to be one of these as*holes on Television…”
Ernie Johnson: “Hey! Hey! Hey!”
CB: “Oh, I mean jackasses I meant. I’m sorry.”
Shaq: “Chuck I’ll tell you what: I will pay your fine to the FCC!”
ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) January 6, 2023
Funny thing is, Charles owes Shaq $10,000 for a wager he lost to the Big Aristotle during a spelling bee episode on Inside the NBA.
Charles Barkley and The Rest Are Locked Into NBAonTNT
Charles Barkley signed a remarkable contract with Turner Sports last year after for years almost stating that he would retire permanently at the age of 60. He claimed he wanted to retire early to take advantage of his money since he didn’t want to pass away on television.
He opted to accept Turner’s offer, which is good for another 10 years and may be valued anywhere from $100 to $200 million. The other members of the crew received comparable contracts, thus Inside the NBA will continue to air with these 4 for at least another ten years.
