TNT’s ‘Inside the NBA’ usually covers weekly doubleheaders on Tuesdays and Thursdays. After the heartbreaking exit of the Purple and Gold from the playoffs, the crew was asked to analyze the Los Angeles Lakers’ first-round series loss against the Denver Nuggets. Following the contest, Charles Barkley couldn’t help but criticize LeBron James. He didn’t condemn the King for his Game 5 performance but had a problem with the latter’s antics postgame.
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After Game 5 of the Lakers-Nuggets series finished at 12:30 AM ET, the Inside the NBA panel had to wait later for the players to get done with their postgame interviews. Suffering a playoff elimination, millions of basketball enthusiasts wanted to hear LeBron James’ thoughts on the game and his plans. However, Bron took too much time to be present at the postgame press conference, leaving Chuck impatient.
Despite being irritated, Barkley promised his viewers that the TNT crew would certainly cover James’ interview. He was so confident that he also offered a $1 bet to Shaq,
“We’re not leaving America until LeBron comes out and speaks. Shaq, bet you a dollar, there’s no chance we’re going off TV without the King talking. I guarantee you.”
The Round Mound of Rebound has previously addressed the same issue with the Lakers megastar. Following Game 3’s loss, Barkley was annoyed as he wanted James to get done with his shower quickly,
“So we are just going to be on TV till LeBron comes out the shower, cause we have things to do. LeBron get your a** out of the shower.”
The ‘NBA on TNT’ didn’t cover Game 4. But, in all probabilities, Barkley was still waiting to hear James’ comments. Unfortunately, the crew was only able to react to Darvin Ham’s postgame comments. With time running out, the TNT couldn’t cover any of the players’ interviews. Hence, Sir Charles lost $1, assuming Shaq had accepted his bet.
