“Shaquille O’Neal really did knock out Charles Barkley during a game”: When the Lakers legend nearly rendered his future NBAonTNT co-host unconscious with a viscous elbow

Shaquille O’Neal once elbowed Charles Barkley so hard during a game that the latter laid on the floor for over a minute, writhing in pain. 

Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley have been at odds with one another on national television for well over a decade, thanks to their bickering on NBAonTNT. Their verbal disputes are quite tame however, when compared to what the two went through with each other on NBA hardwood during their heyday in the league. 

Most NBA fans can remember the time when Shaquille O’Neal, while on the Lakers, wrestled Charles Barkley to the grounds and into the stands during a regular season matchup between the purple and gold and the Houston Rockets. Funnily enough, Barkley’s mother called Shaq the night of the fight and told him and her son to bury the hatchet.

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There is another moment the two shared with each other on the court, well before the famed, aforementioned event, that gets pushed under the rug. 

Shaquille O’Neal nearly knocked Charles Barkley out by elbowing him. 

Shaquille O’Neal on the Orlando Magic wasn’t as feisty as he was while with the Los Angeles Lakers but it’s moments like these that gave fans glimpses of what was to come. During a game against the Phoenix Suns on March 13th, 1994, Shaq elbowed Charles Barkley, seemingly out of nowhere. 

Getting elbowed by any adult is something that would leave a significant amount of bruising in the area that was elbowed. Recovering after getting elbowed by Shaquille O’Neal seems like an unfathomable feat to say the very least.

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Fortunately for the Phoenix Suns, Barkley would soldier on after laying on the floor for over a minute, writhing in pain from the shot. The Suns would actually go on to win this game despite O’Neal’s Herculean 39 points to keep the Magic in the game.