Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley having been at war with one another for what feels like eons. The two Hall-of-Fame big-men, ever since becoming the faces of ‘Inside the NBA’, have built up a great rapport with one another, leading to even greater chemistry on the set of the show. One of the most notable arguments the two have been having over the years has been Chuck not having a title to his name and Shaq having 4.
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‘The Big Aristotle’ 3-peated with the Los Angeles Lakers from 2000-2002 and would win a 4th title in Miami after he was traded after Jerry Buss chose to keep a young Kobe Bryant over an aging Shaq. Dwyane Wade, another young shooting guard, would have O’Neal play second fiddle to him and lead the Heat in his third season to their first franchise championship in 2006.
Charles Barkley on the other hand, despite winning MVP in 1993 and joining Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler/Scottie Pippen in Houston, could never muster up a single championship.
Charles Barkley on Shaquille O’Neal having only 3 rings
Charles Barkley never misses out on the opportunity to get at Shaquille O’Neal for any and everything. He has called the 3x Finals MVP dumb on several occasions and after being told for 12 years that he doesn’t have a ring, has decided to hilariously discredit one of his rings.
“When you played in Miami you didn’t have 4 people guarding you. They had 4 people on you in LA. You got 3 rings. You were riding on Dwyane Wade’s coattails [in Miami],” said Barkley on ‘Inside the NBA’.
Dwyane Wade was the Finals MVP in 2006 and the reason the Heat won was because Shaq decided to put his ego to the side and let Wade be the undisputed number one option for the team. He was in his 13th season and was clearly not the same ‘Most Dominant Ever’ candidate that he was when in Los Angeles.
What did Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O’Neal average in the 2006 Finals?
Wade averaged 34.7 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists during those Finals, leading them out of a 0-2 hole to win 4 straight games against the next year’s MVP, Dirk Nowitzki. Shaq on the other hand put up 13.7 points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists, his worst Finals performance in his career.
