“He Didn’t Speak To Us For 2 Days”: Charles Barkley Reveals Which TNT Segment Led To Shaquille O’Neal’s Silent Treatment

After years of memorable moments & entertaining memories from the hosts of TNT, the days of Inside The NBA may be coming to an end. However, as the show could be entering its final days, co-host Charles Barkley reveals one of the moments during the show that pissed off Shaquille O’Neal so much that he did not speak to his co-hosts for days on end.

Making an appearance on SportsIllustrated for an interview, Charles Barkley sat down with Jimmy Traina. Here, the two talked about the future of Inside The NBA, Barkley went on to reveal what caused Shaq to give his co-hosts the silent treatment for two days.

“He didn’t speak to us for two days. He was that pissed. And Ernie said, he didn’t speak to us for two days, I’m not even exaggerating. He did not speak to us for two days. The only time he talked was when we was on the air and then he’d go back.”

The incident Jimmy Traina and Charles Barkley are talking about is when all hosts were given a specific time to give their opinions on what’s going on in the league and Barkley decided to take some extra time out of Shaq’s allotted minutes.

Visibly pissed, Shaquille O’Neal did not take part in that segment and the rest of the co-hosts tried their best to make the most of the situation while Sir Charles could not help but laugh at Shaq’s childish behavior. 

This incident led the Los Angeles Lakers legend to only indulge when the crew was on air and reporting what was going on in the league. As soon as they went off air, O’Neal went back to his silent treatment. And while Ernie Johnson and Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith were trying to mend ways, Barkley laughed it up in Shaq’s face.

Why Charles Barkley loves messing with Shaquille O’Neal

Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal have always had a back-and-forth relationship with one another. From throwing hands at each other on the court to roasting one another on national television, their relationship has come a long way.

Barkley once opened up about his relationship with Shaquille O’Neal while on The Rich Eisen Show and the squabbles the two get into on a regular basis.

“I love messin with him and I just keep turnin and turnin and I can just see the vein in his forehead everytime I ride him about Kobe and Dwyane. I just like messin with him because he’s got thin skin. I’m just dyin laughing and he’s gets so mad.”

Even though the two like to poke one another whenever they get the chance, Shaq and Barkley share a relationship where the two have immense love and respect for one another and will probably be friends for life.