“Shaquille O’Neal looks at Kenny and I cross-eyed when we talk basketball”: When Charles Barkley hilariously roasted the Lakers legend for not having to actually know the game

Charles Barkley once told Conan O’Brien that Shaquille O’Neal would look at him and Kenny cross-eyed because he doesn’t understand basketball. 

There’s no debating over the fact that Shaquille O’Neal is one of the most dominant forces the NBA has ever seen in the 75 years it’s been active. Wilt Chamberlain was cut from the same cloth and if Giannis Antetokounmpo can keep up his reign over the league, he’ll most definitely in a conversation that has both Shaq and Wilt in it, if he isn’t there already. 

There was a ten year span from his sophomore year in 1993 to the 2003 season that he would never dip below averaging 27 points and 10 rebounds, a feat that not many NBA superstars can say that they have achieved. More so than the stats, it was the way in which he achieved it that had fans in awe.

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Shaquille O’Neal can attribute his dominance to the fact that he’s a 7 foot tall, 300-pounder who is surprisingly more athletic than most make him out to be. According to Charles Barkley, it is this prowess that resulted in him not knowing much about the game. 

Charles Barkley hilariously roasts Shaquille O’Neal for not knowing much about basketball. 

Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal have become one of the most iconic duos in league history, without ever having stepped foot on the court together. The two showcase their brother-like relationship through excessive banter night in and night out, usually resulting in a joke that goes viral online. 

Early last year, Chuck appeared on the ‘Conan O’Brien needs a friend’ podcast and in a segment near the 26 minute mark of the episode, talked about his relationship with Shaquille O’Neal. He would say that the two are great friends but then hilariously delve into how the ‘Big Aristotle’ didn’t know all too much about basketball.

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“He has thinner skin than Flat Stanley. Shaq has always been the biggest and baddest dude for an ‘x’ amount of years and he’s never had to think his way through a basketball game. Me and Kenny try to explain to him something on the basketball court, he’s looking at us cross-eyed.” 

“Then, he gets so mad and all he can say is, ‘You don’t have no championship rings,’ and yea I don’t but that has nothing to do with the basketball conversation that we’re having.”