Shaquille O’Neal Brings Back Charles Barkley’s 3-Year-Old Zion Williamson Statement After Comment on ‘Inside the NBA’

Tonoy Sengupta | 12/04/2024
Shaquille O’Neal Brings Back Charles Barkley’s 3-Year-Old Zion Williamson Statement After Comment on ‘Inside the NBA’

Zion Williamson has been a hot topic lately for TNT’s ‘Inside the NBA’. Earlier during today’s episode, Charles Barkley explained to the New Orleans Pelicans star how he should look to fall during NBA games after he almost injured his wrist in trying to break his fall. To do so, the 61-year-old even demonstrated the procedure on set, much to the joy of his co-hosts. However, as if this wasn’t enough, the analyst also brought a hilarious 2021 statement back, about Shaquille O’Neal, him, and Zion.

During the show, a fan post from X (formerly Twitter) was brought up on screen to highlight Chuck’s wonky relationship with Zion. It read, “@NBAonTNT chuck used to teach Zion how to walk, now he’s teaching Zion how to fall”. This prompted the show to bring back an old clip where Barkley mocked the young star by showing him the correct method to walk and run.

He did this after it was alleged that Williamson’s gait needed to be corrected to avoid knee injuries. The flashback to this moment on ‘Inside the NBA’ left Kenny Smith with a burning question. Bewildered by Barkley’s constant tutoring of the 23-year-old star, he asked, “Is he an illegitimate son, that you gotta teach him how to walk, run, and fall?!”. Before anyone had the time to react, Barkley hilariously retorted with the following,

“If me and Shaq had a baby, he’d look like Zion!”

Much like many viewers out there, O’Neal couldn’t stop laughing. The big man even went to his Instagram and found the clip where Charles Barkley had first said this about Zion Williamson in 2021,

“[Zion] look like me and Shaq had a baby!”

Barkley initially made this statement when criticisms around the New Orleans Pelicans star were at an all-time high. The forward was clearly overweight, something Barkley looked to roast. Fortunately, Williamson has overcome his issues with weight and is proving detractors wrong with his play this season. Also, it is hard to deny just how funny Chuckster’s statement remains to this very day.

Post Edited By: Hitesh Nigam
Charles Barkley Inside The NBA New Orleans Pelicans Shaquille O'Neal Zion Williamson

About the author

Tonoy Sengupta

Tonoy Sengupta

Tonoy Sengupta is a Senior Editor at The SportsRush. Coming from an athletically inclined family, he has been surrounded by sports ever since he was 4 years old. But, while initially pouring all his time into Football (soccer), at 14, Tonoy discovered basketball through the countless highlights of Stephen Curry humiliating players from Curry Land. And just like that, a fiery passion for the game was ignited within Tonoy. And soon after, he decided to become a student of journalism, graduating in 2022, and choosing sports as his area of interest. Today, you can find him spending 99% of his time browsing through every type of content on every team in the NBA, before uncorking everything he has found to the world. In the 1% he isn't doing this, you can find him playing Basketball, Football, Volleyball, or practically any other sport he has had the opportunity to learn.

Don’t miss these