During a 2020 ‘Inside the NBA’ segment, Charles Barkley listed his top ten players of all time and baffled Shaquille O’Neal by leaving him out of it. Of course, a sensitive Shaq was confused as to why his colleague would leave him off the list. Even Kenny Smith had to jump in and implore Barkley to reconsider his top-ten list. Reiterating his Top 10 list to his fellow analyst, Chuck said,
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“Kenny[Smih], you know my top ten. Michael [Jordan], Oscar [Robertson], Bill Russell, Kareem[Abdul-Jabbar], and Wilt[Chamberlain], Kobe[Bryant], LeBron[James], Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, then you got Magic[Johnson] and [Larry] Bird right there.”
The 1987 rebounding leader didn’t even consider the big fella in his top-eleven, let alone top-ten. On top of that, while listing out these names, he never even brought up Shaq’s name anywhere. The fact that his co-panelist included Bryant but forgot about him altogether must have made O’Neal even more upset with this list. Even Kenny Smith took exception to it.
The Jet asked the former ace rebounder, “When have you ever seen anyone like Shaq?” To this Barkley agreed that Shaq is indeed the most dominant Center and he has never seen anyone like him. However, the 1993 MVP also argued that he did put him behind Magic, Bird, LeBron, and Kobe, somewhere around 11th, 12th, and 13th. It brought laughter among the panel because they knew Barkley was defenseless in this case and was running out of arguments.
Earlier in the segment, Smith had pointed out how the era that Shaq played in is “undervalued” and that is why people forget to put him on the all-time top ten list. The long-time TNT analyst also opined that if he were to pick between LeBron James and O’Neal, he’d opt for the big fella because of his sheer dominance.
Despite these points of view, the Round Mound of Rebound refused to include Shaquille O’Neal in his top-ten list. A year later, Barkley would once again get on the nerves of the Big Aristotle.
Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley engaged in a heated argument
In 2021, the former Suns forward and Shaq had one of their usual heated discussions. During the 2021 season Tip-off, Ernie Johnson asked O’Neal to rank his top Lakers center. To which he replied, ”Kareem, me[Shaq], and Wilt.” This answer brought a rise out of Barkley, who immediately clapped back with, “Oh, you’re not better than Wilt!”
A perturbed Shaq then reacted, “Yes, I am, I got four goddamn[championships]”. However, the 1993 MVP wasn’t having any of it. He asked O’Neal to “stop it” and in a strong voice, stated, “you already getting petty on the first night[season opener], you’re not better than Wilt.”
Shaq responded, “You don’t remember my ceremonies”, referring to his 3x Finals MVP receptions and four championships. However, Barkley continued to argue that his colleague was being “petty”.
While it is true Wilt “Stilt” Chamberlain is one of the best players to hit the basketball floor, Shaq had a longer Lakers tenure and won more titles. The overall greatness of both players can be debated considering Chamberlain’s unmatchable numbers but if we are talking about all-time Lakers Centers, O’Neal does have a stronger case.
