“We Should Do a Duet”: When Charles Barkley Suggested Collaboration with Adele, Got Shut Down By Ernie Johnson

Adit Pujari | 26/04/2023
"We Should Do a Duet": When Charles Barkley Suggested Collaboration with Adele, Got Shut Down By Ernie Johnson

Charles Barkley is the jester of Inside the NBA on TNT. While Shaquille O’Neal is also undeniably funny, Barkley is on a whole different stratosphere when it comes to entertaining fans of the show.

Known for saying whatever comes to his mind, Chuck sometimes delivers hilarious one-liners with such sincerity that it is hard to tell whether he is joking or not. Perhaps that is what makes his brand of humor so addictive.

When Adele attended the 2022 All-Star held in Cleveland, Barkley had an idea that was hilarious. However, Ernie Johnson, the sane voice of the show, shut down Chuck brutally leading to another iconic interaction.

Charles Barkley wanted to do a duet with Adele

The 2022 All-Star game in Cleveland, like all other editions of the NBA event, featured a lot of celebrities. One of those celebrities in attendance was the globally popular singer and songwriter Adele.

Chuck, who was commentating during the All-Star games along with the Inside the NBA team, saw Adele and Chirped that he should talk to the singer. He further claimed that he should do a duet with her.

Barkley: “I need to talk to her. I am thinking we should do a duet.”

This made Ernie Johnson vehemently refuse Chuck’s claim. Ernie went on to shut down Chuck’s idea and brutally told him that a duet between him and Adele would never happen.

Ernie Johnson: “No, that would never happen.”

But contrary to Johnson’s statement, Chuck did have a duet with Adele. Although it was not your conventional duet. In fact, Adele was not even physically involved in it and probably has no idea Barkley had a duet with her.

Barkley sang a duet with Adele for Shaquille O’Neal

On March 6, 2022, Charles Barkley fulfilled his wish of singing a duet with Adele. Basically, Chuck while wishing Shaquille O’Neal played a video of Adele singing the happy birthday song and sang along with it.

His high pitch singing combined with Ernie Johnson’s witty quips in the background was the perfect performance. There was perhaps no better way to celebrate Shaq’s 50th birthday.

Post Edited By: Adit Pujari

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Adit Pujari

Adit Pujari is an NBA Journalist and Strategist at The SportsRush. He formerly worked as a debate and writing trainer. An avid fan of Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers, Adit began following the league in 2007. With the Lakers and Boston Celtics rivalry ripe, he found himself hooked to the sport immediately. After 15 years of religiously following the league, he decided to use his knowledge base as a sports writer in 2021. Since then, he has worked as an NBA writer, led a team of MLB writers, and has now joined The SportsRush. In his spare time, Adit loves playing pickup games and exploring hidden Himalayan trails.