NBA on TNT has long been a staple of covering professional basketball, and I’m here to say that after seeing this video, there should be a whole behind-the-scenes series about the series itself.
With personalities like Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley all coming together in one show, sparks are bound to fly at some point.
And if you’ve ever watched the NBA talkshow before, you already know that the tension between Shaq and “Chuck” often pays off in funny jabs and jokes during the program.
For those that thought that back and forth was just for TV, this video will prove that theory wrong. As it turns out, Shaq and Charles just like to poke fun at one another, regardless of whether or not the cameras are on.
This clip, which is getting a lot of attention on social media, revolves around Shaq’s jersey retirement ceremony with the Orlando Magic, and it all happened shortly before the show went live. O’Neal was upset that TNT, the company he works for, didn’t cover it, and the ceremony was only broadcast on NBA TV.
Shaq was voicing that at least part of it should have been on TNT, but on the same night, the TV network was broadcasting an NBA double-header. Charles was basically telling him that he shouldn’t expect his jersey retirement in Orlando to take over a live NBA game:
“He’s wrong. What’s wrong with NBA TV? They should have put it on TruTV.”
Shaq, clearly getting upset by Barkley’s commentary, then accused his co-host of being brainwashed by TNT:
“He’s a company guy. You are a f***** company guy.”
In case you didn’t know, that’s an insult in this context. Shaq was hoping Charles would have his back, and he instead chose to side with TNT not covering “Diesel’s” jersey retirement.
Kenny Smith came in to try and break up the bickering, saying that he understood why Shaq would be upset that TNT didn’t cover any of the ceremony. As Kenny was trying to reason with Charles, Shaq cut him off to say this:
“He’s a company man, Kenny. Whatever the company tells him to do, he’s gonna do it.”
Charles then start ribbing Shaq about all the different places he played (he played for six different franchises), and how TNT will just cover his next jersey retirement for one of those places.
The jabs continued for a good five minutes, with the esteemed Ernie Johnson even coming in at one point to try and comfort Shaq. It only subsided when producers told the NBA on TNT panel that they were about to go on.
Once they did, Charles started looking over some notes, and to do so, he put on the biggest reading glasses you’ve ever seen. The clip ends with Shaq appearing to mock Barkley as he looks over the piece of paper on the desk.
It’s five minutes of must-see content, even though it was never meant to be seen. So I think my calling for an inside look at the NBA on TNT is warranted, and the behind-the-scenes show needs to happen sooner rather than later.
Take a look:
