Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley are among the best duos in sports media. They are best friends and enemies on and off camera. Last night was no different, as Shaq took offense to Charles and the guys mentioning that he got swept by Kenny Smith’s Rockets team in the 1995 NBA Finals.
Some would argue that Hakeem Olajuwon, the Finals MVP that season, gave Shaq all he could have asked for: 33 points, 10 rebounds, and almost three blocks on 53% shooting from the field.
During the 4-0 sweep, Shaq, a young rising star at the time, was guarded by Olajuwon. Shaq held his own, though, averaging 28 points, 13 rebounds, and six assists. It was often Penny and Shaq who carried the team, while the rest of the team were virtual no-shows. Some people joke that reliable scorer Nick Anderson is someone Shaq still holds a grudge against today because he did not step up to the plate.
Charles whispered to Kenny that Hakeem had given Shaq the business, and that was the only domino that had to fall to start an infamous jawing match between the two.
“But Chuck, I came back and won four championships,” Shaq said to Barkley. As soon as Shaq finished his statement, a video of Hakeem putting Shaq in the spin cycle popped up. The guys reacted with laughs and woahhhs when they saw the video. As the clips played, Charles called Shaq barbeque chicken, and that struck a chord with the big man from Texas.
“I got cooked and came back and won four of them, you got cooked by Mike and never came back, thank you Michael Jordan. Charles asked, “You got swept in the Finals?!” Charles asked Draymond if he ever got swept in the Finals, to which he responded never and that set Shaqoff even more as he took his glasses off to get his point across.
“You got cooked and never made it back, before you succeed you must learn to fail,” Shaq started pulling out quotes as Barkley laughed. “I got cooked but I came back and I redeemed myself.” Shaq thanked Michael Jordan for taking Charles Barkley’s confidence.
Check out the hilarious clip from last night below. If this is the last year of the show, there will never be a sports show this good again.
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