As Superbowl weekend takes over the Big Easy, Shaquille O’Neal is in town to add to the festivities. The Hall of Famer hosted another iteration of Shaq’s Fun House at Mardi Gras World in New Orleans last night, but he didn’t let the celebration stop him from performing his day job — roasting Charles Barkley.
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Dave Schmulenson interviewed the Diesel at his party but things didn’t go exactly as planned after this question.
“Favorite prank you’ve ever pulled on Charles Barkley?” The Schmo asked O’Neal, only to be met with confused silence.
“You said who?… Has he won any championships? Why, I have no idea who he is,” Barkley’s TNT colleague quipped.
The joke might be getting old for some but Shaq is clearly committed to it. The 7-footer often brings up his four NBA championships to shut Barkley down during their arguments on ‘Inside the NBA’ and he has even revealed how grateful he is that Chuck lost his sole NBA Finals series.
During an appearance on ‘The Old Man and the Three’ last year, JJ Redick had asked him to discuss his favorite teammates. Shaq gave credit to the many players who have supported his journey, but he also had to applaud John Paxson for keeping Barkley ring-less.
Paxson was a sharpshooter who helped the Chicago Bulls win their first three championships with Michael Jordan. However, his value really came to the fore in 1993 when Sir Charles and the Phoenix Suns were on the verge of forcing a Finals Game 7. Down by 2, with 3.9 seconds remaining, Paxson nailed a three-point shot to give Chicago the 99-98 lead and their third straight championship.
“If Paxson don’t hit that shot, Mike don’t have 6 and Charles has 1,” O’Neal told Redick on his podcast. “I’m glad Paxson hit that shot. I would hate to f**king see Charles with a ring… Paxson, thank you. Oh, I’m glad you hit that shot. Charles with a ring? Oh, you couldn’t tell him nothing,” Shaq admitted.
And that’s simply what the four-time NBA champion wants to avoid. Ever since he joined TNT in 2011, O’Neal has taken advantage of Barkley’s ring-less resume to bookend their arguments. He can’t imagine a world where he doesn’t get to lord that over his fellow NBA MVP.
After all, in that world, we never get this type of banter between the Hall of Fame big men. “4 rings. How many rings you got? How many rings you gon’ be remembered for? That’s what I thought,” O’Neal once told Barkley on TNT. Naturally, Chuck wasn’t going to take that lying down.
“Look, if I had Dwyane Wade and Kobe carry me up and down the court, I’d have 5 or 6 [championships] too,” the 11-time All-Star fired back.
Shaq will happily accept such retorts from Barkley as long as he can continue holding his rings over his colleague’s head.
