“This is how I’m a do…” Shaquille O’Neal gives sneak peek into ‘slap treatment’ for Charles Barkley in 2024

Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley have been involved in some hilarious banter over the years.

“This is how I’m a do…” Shaquille O’Neal gives sneak peek into ‘slap treatment’ for Charles Barkley in 2024

Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley (Image via ESPN and Deadline)

Even though Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley frequently spar on national television on TNT’s “Inside the NBA,” despite their close friendship. Ever since their memorable altercation during an NBA game in 1999, the two have remained friends. The two have been long-term analysts on what is arguably the best basketball show on television. Basketball fans who watch the show will be well aware of the kind of hilarious banter the two indulge in, quite regularly.

Despite their friendship and collaboration on the show, the two players never pass up an opportunity to make fun of one another. Shaquille O’Neal did exactly that via a Charles Barkley video that he uploaded to Inside the NBA at the start of 2024, teasing him about what he planned to do to him when they next met.

O’Neal posted a video in which one individual gave another a “bitch-slap” on the face while greeting them. It was on Instagram that he posted the video. His caption was,

FS Video
This how I'm a do Charles Barkley in 2024. These are just jokes, let's love each other in 2024.

Charles Barkley has been the target of jokes from Shaquille O’Neal during his entire tenure as TNT co-host. Over the years, there have been a few heated exchanges between them on television, but it hasn’t had any impact on their relationship.

Thursday night’s two games will mark the return of the Inside the NBA shows, which are hosted by Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley, Ernie Johnson, and Kenny Smith. The Inside the NBA broadcast will resume its regular time slot on Thursday night since there are no more NFL matches to be played on that night for the remainder of the season.

Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley’s mothers are the reason why both players have a great friendship

Of course, Barkley and O’Neal weren’t always friends. Ironically, the two’s notorious on-court altercation in 1999 helped mend their friendship when their mothers came together to fix the issue. O’Neal once revealed how Barkley’s mother Charcey Glenn and his mother Lucille O’Neal insisted that they become friends after the fight.

Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley
Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley (Image via UPORXX and HuffPost)

The fact that their mothers were best friends for fifteen to twenty years was unknown to the NBA legends. Shaquille O’Neal said via NBA on TNT:

So the time when me and Barkley fought when I got to the locker room, my mother and Charles's mother was on the phone. Charles's mother said you all don't need to be fighting. I just talked to Charles, you all hug it out and stop this.

Despite their differences on “Inside the NBA,” Shaquille O’Neal continued to reveal the kind of relationship that they have, as Shaq claimed that he respected Barkley. They currently have a relationship similar to that of their mothers, according to O’Neal. Shaq hilariously added that as Barkley’s elder brother, he loved his former rival.

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