Charles Barkley has made himself pretty clear when it comes to his opinion on the concept of a Superteam. Considering how passionately Barkley despises superstars joining forces to win Championships, Shaquille O’Neal couldn’t help but call out his Inside the NBA co-host for being hypocritical. Shaq posted a graphic on his Instagram story highlighting the $4,695,000 move Barkley made by signing with the star-studded Houston Rockets in 1996.
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Even though the concept did exist before, LeBron James’ move to the Miami Heat made Superteams infamous in the NBA. Since then, superstars such as Kevin Durant and James Harden, among others, have been criticized for “chasing rings”. A few years ago, when Kawhi Leonard was set to sign with a new team during the 2019 free agency, Charles Barkley clearly got his points across on the two-time Champion potentially forming a Superteam.
“I’m sick of these guys stacking their team … I hate the super team.“
—Charles Barkley pic.twitter.com/tfe0HWRD0t
— First Take (@FirstTake) July 1, 2019
Shaquille O’Neal calls out Charles Barkley for his hypocrisy
With the promise of a Championship-worthy roster, Charles Barkley parted ways with the Philadelphia 76ers to join the Phoenix Suns. After four seasons without winning the Championship, Sir Charles joined the Houston Rockets in 1996, set to make $4,695,000 a year. It’s important to note that Barkley joined a team that already consisted of Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler – two of the biggest names in the 1990s.
During the 1998-1999 season, Barkley shared the court with Scottie Pippen as well, who had just finished his second three-peat with the Bulls. Therefore, it seems appropriate that Shaq would post a graphic on his Instagram Stories, calling out the Chuckster for his hypocrisy.
Shaq goes at Barkley for making superteams in the 90s pic.twitter.com/VwPJEorrOS
— tragicpatek (@tragicpatek) September 9, 2023
Despite being a part of the pretty stacked franchise, the Round Mound of Rebound had a fairly unsuccessful four-season stint with the Houston side. Apart from a trip to the Western Conference Finals, the Rockets faced two first-round exits and missed the 2000 postseason entirely.
Barkley defended himself for joining a Superteam
Charles Barkley may have joined a team that was filled with some of the biggest names in league history. But Chuck doesn’t believe that the team qualified as a Superteam because of the age of the stars on the roster. A few years ago, Barkley justified why the 1996-2000 Houston Rockets weren’t a Superteam.
“It wasn’t a superteam because we were all 97 years old. If we got together when we were 30 it would have been a super team, we were all 40.”
To be fair, Barkley joined the Houston side when he was 33 years old, still a great player despite nearing his prime. Olajuwon was also the same age, with Pippen being three years younger than the two of them. So Shaq does have a fair point against Barkley.
