“I Know What the Hell I’m Talking About”: Shaquille O’Neal Loses Patience With Charles Barkley Over Constant Interruption, Skip Bayless Reacts

Reacting to the LA Lakers’ In-Season quarterfinals victory over the Phoenix Suns, Shaquille O’Neal claimed on ‘Inside the NBA’ that it was Austin Reaves who deserved the game ball. Reaves came off the bench to score 20 points as the Lakers hung on to a 106-103 victory against Durant and company. His 20 points were exactly how much the Suns’ bench combined for in the game, which, for Shaq, was enough to proclaim him as the standout player.

O’Neal initially seemed annoyed at colleague and former NBA rival Charles Barkley while explaining why it was Austin Reaves who deserved the ‘game ball’ over LeBron, who scored 31 points and had 11 assists. The clip of Shaq’s exchange with Barkley was shared by House of Highlights on YouTube.

“Reaves gets the game ball, let me finish before you interrupt me like you been doing for 12 years. Reaves gets the game ball, AD, great first half 20 points, 7 in the second half,” O’Neal said, before explaining how Reaves did in the second half and what AD was supposed to do.

However, Shaq was evidently angry at Chuck for interrupting him repeatedly and was questioned about his take again. He held out four fingers to signify the four championships he won. “To this, I, know, what the hell I am talking about,” he said, a response directed at Chuck, who, despite his brilliance, sadly was never able to land a single championship.

O’Neal initially looked straight at Chuck, seemingly staring him down. However, he could not help but break into a smile while repeating what he said, before repeating his take on Austin Reaves.

Of course, Chuck was not to be left behind. “Stuff you don’t know about basketball, we can write a book,” he said, addressing Shaq. Kenny Smith chipped in as well, holding out two fingers. “Me too,” he said, signifying his acceptance of Shaq’s claim on the game. As the group proceeded to debate further, one could be sure that there is never to be a dull day, on the sets of Inside the NBA.

Skip Bayless was delighted with Shaquille O’Neal’s response to Charles Barkley

The saga seemingly continued on Twitter, as Skip Bayless gave his take on the exchange between Shaq and Chuck. “Pretty sure Shaq just got mad at Barkley for interrupting him and shut Barkley down. Loved it,” he posted on Twitter.

Bayless was hence seemingly delighted with how Shaq shut Chuck down. The two had even talked each other into a $30 million bet before the quarterfinal matchup. Both the NBA legends sided with their former teams, with Shaq raising the stakes when Barkley initially suggested a $15 million bet.

The $30 million figure proved too much for Barkley, who claimed that he did not want to be black, as well as poor, suggesting it to be a bit of a double whammy. The two eventually settled for a power slap competition, which unfortunately for viewers did not quite end up taking place. Some other day, perhaps.