Hollywood celebrities are often seen collaborating with NBA stars. In one such instance, in 2013, Dwayne Johnson and Mark Wahlberg promoted their movie Pain & Gain with TNT’s Inside The NBA crew. The movie team found an ingenious idea to promote their plot by engaging Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley in a bench press competition. Surprisingly, 6’6″ Charles Barkley beat Shaq in something everyone expected to be the Big Diesel’s forte. Unable to accept this defeat, Shaquille O’Neal asked Chuck to ‘shut up’ after being called a ‘sore loser.’
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Dwayne Johnson and Mark Wahlberg decided to go with Shaq and Chuck for the bench press competition. The dynamic between the duo very well resonates with their movie’s theme. Dwayne Johnson, who had put his hopes on Shaq, was utterly dismayed with his loss in this competition.
Charles Barkley once defeated Shaquille O’Neal in a bench press competition
While promoting their movie Pain & Gain, Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson collaborated with the Inside crew in 2013. With this collaboration, the Pain & Gain team organized a bench press liftoff competition between the Inside cast Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley. Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne Johnson had placed their bets on Chuck and Shaq, respectively.
The competition started with the participants lifting lighter to heavier weights. Starting at 135 pounds, both Shaq and Chuck were quickly able to lift the weight. Shaq even tried showboating his skills with a standing press
The following weight was 225 pounds. Shaq, once again, effortlessly lifted the weight and performed a ‘victory dance’ in front of Chuck, asking him to match his skills. Without uttering any word, Chuck quietly accepted the challenge and was able to lift the second weight as well.
The third level of lifting 315 pounds was also quite effortless for Shaq and Chuck. However, when the weight was increased to 405 pounds, this was enough to break the mighty old Shaq. The Big Diesel seemed to be succumbing to the weight and had to use Dwayne Johnson’s help to get back up.
Now, it was up to Charles Barkley to go one-up against Shaq. Although initially struggling, Chuck could lock the weight out and, eventually, perform a clean bench. The Big Diesel, much to the dismay of The Rock, was beaten by his fellow TNT analyst Sir Charles. Without shaking Chuck’s hand, Shaq walked away asking Barkley to “Shut Up.” After winning the trophy for his achievement, Charles Barkley said:
“Shaquille is a sore loser. Thank you very much.”
Shaquille O’Neal was also given a parting gift when Jared Greenberg threw a weight at him. Shaq, in response, snatched Chuck’s trophy and walked away. While Chuck and Shaq’s duo enjoy such a unique and hilarious dynamic, both were ferocious rivals, enough to engage in fistfights during their playing careers.
Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley have a unique history of altercations
Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley did not always have this funny and hilarious dynamic with each other. In fact, Shaq and Chuck once engaged in a nasty fistfight during their playing careers. While playing for the Houston Rockets in 1999, Chuck threw a ball toward Shaq which hit him on the head. Enraged by this, Laker Shaq started throwing punches at Chuck, eventually being separated by the referees and game officials.
However, this dynamic has now completely changed. Chuck still hits Shaq and runs away to hide from the Big Aristotle. However, an older and mature Shaq is much calmer now. Although he would not start throwing punches at Chuck, Shaq definitely knows to get on Chuck’s nerves one way or another.
