“How Do You Text 2 People at the Same Time?”: Charles Barkley Doesn’t Understand the Concept of Group Chats, Says Kenny Smith

‘Inside the NBA’ doesn’t just deliver analysis on the games of the night, it also allows fans a behind-the-scenes sneak peek into the lives of their favorite NBA Hall of Famers, Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley. Tonight, the crew exposed Chuck’s archaic texting habits that showed the 11-time All-Star’s age. 

Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith returned to Studio J after taking the holiday weekend off and jumped right into some banter with Barkley. “Well, good to be back, but realized that people didn’t get smarter when I left,” the two-time NBA champion quipped. 

Charles tried to deflect the joke onto Shaquille O’Neal, but Kenny was intent on revealing Barkley’s gaffe. “Ladies and gentlemen, his [Barkley’s] question was ‘How do you text two people at the same time?’” Smith shared on the program. 

“Listen man, I’ve been busy,” Chuck responded. “I’m not good with technology.”

But it wouldn’t get the Inside guys off his back as both Shaq and Kenny kept on laughing at the Chuckster. 

Smith seemed frustrated with Barkley after trying to help the 61-year-old learn how to make a group chat. “We’re sitting here for five minutes telling you how to just add another person. It’s called a group text. You can actually put five or ten [people],” Kenny explained. 

We can assume that if there is an ‘Inside the NBA’ group chat, Sir Charles is certainly not active on it. The 1993 NBA MVP’s struggles with technology are well documented on ‘NBA on TNT’, as Barkley remained averse to social media for years. 

In fact, he just joined Instagram earlier this year after swearing off the app in the past. Though his feelings towards the digital world have hardly changed, Barkley claimed he joined Instagram to support his business ventures like Redmont Vodka. 

However, even at that time, the Inside guys spent a significant amount of time on the air poking the 1987 rebounding leader for his lack of knowledge about the platform. Shaq taught his friend how to send direct messages but the information overwhelmed Barkley, who innocently questioned if he should start an ‘OnlyFans’ next. 

Despite being a superstar at one point and remaining in the public eye post retirement, Charles has always been resistant to modern technology. Thankfully, he has had the TNT crew in his corner to show him the ropes. Seven years ago, they were teaching him the workings of his new iPhone when Chuck shared an insight into why he avoids being online. 

“Kenny is teaching me how to Facetime,” Barkley admitted. “I don’t use a lot of technology, I very seldom use my computer. Listen man, I try to limit people’s access to me, cause you know at some point they’re going to ask to borrow money. So, I don’t want people being able to reach me,” he explained. 

From that perspective, Chuck’s lessons about the digital media might come at a great cost to him. But now that he knows how to make a group chat, maybe the Inside guys can teach him how to block contacts during the next episode.