Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley are two big-men who were known for their relentless dominance but never their physique for the most part. Shaq, who is in quite great shape for a 51-year-old and claimed that he was close to his target weight on his ‘Big Podcast’, was notorious for gaining weight past 2002.
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Charles Barkley came into the NBA as a man who was incredibly skilled at the game of basketball but his physique never showed this. He was close to being overweight when he was drafted 5th overall by the Philadelphia 76ers and it would take MVP, Moses Malone, to whip him into shape.
Fast-forward to present day and the subject of Chuck’s physique has been quite the lighthearted one on ‘Inside the NBA’. The crew routinely pokes fun at him and his obsession over Krispy Kreme donuts and tonight’s broadcast was no different.
Shaquille O’Neal offers up $1,000 to Charles Barkley
Shaquille O’Neal seems to like offering up money to Charles Barkley on national television in a hilarious effort to embarrass him. He once asked Chuck to spell the word ‘spectacular’ and put $10,000 on the line for it.
In today’s breakdown of the Phoenix Suns-Los Angeles Clippers Game 5 closeout bout, Shaq asked Chuck if he would wear a tank top on set. The topic came about when they showed a gif of Jean-Claude Van Damme dancing to say that’s how Shaq felt when he heard Devin Booker passed Barkley up in Suns Playoff career 40-point games.
“Chuck, I’ll give you $1,000 to wear that Jean-Claude Van Damme tank top,” said Shaq on ‘Inside the NBA’. This, of course, was done by O’Neal to poke fun at the fact that Chuck isn’t exactly in great shape.
Charles Barkley couldn’t resist having himself a churro
Charles Barkley has quite the long history with churros. The Olympic gold medalist once famously said that women in San Antonio are big because they keep ‘whipping them churros’ and made Shaquille O’Neal laugh uncontrollably.
Now, in a segment during these 2023 Playoffs, the Sacramento Kings sent over a plate of purple dusted churros for the TNT crew to enjoy. In doing so, they unknowingly led Barkley to cheat on his diet as he refused to have one at first but gave in and had a bite from Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith. Quite the full circle moment for Sir Charles.
