“To Shaquille O’Neal, 1 Billion Dollars!”: Charles Barkley Hurts His $60 Million Net Worth by Betting Against the Hawks

Inside the NBA is back, and they’re making their impact felt on the Play-In Tournament! A combo of Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Ernie Johnson, and Kenny Smith means guaranteed entertainment for the viewers. So far, they haven’t disappointed tonight.

It’s double-header night, with two crucial Play-In Games taking place. The first contest was between the Hawks and the Heat, with the winner taking the 7th seed and facing the Celtics in the first round. The second one is going on currently, with the Timberwolves taking on the Lakers. The winner takes the 7th seed again and faces the Grizzlies in the first round.

Charles Barkley was feeling rather confident about the Heat-Celtics first-round matchup. In fact, he was feeling so confident that the Chuckster beat nearly 17x his net worth.

Shaquille O’Neal rings the bells as Charles Barkley loses a Billion dollar bet

Charles Barkley felt that the Atlanta Hawks ‘stink’ and bet a Billion Dollars that the Heat beat them tonight.

Well, I guess people on the Hawks heard Chuck, and they took it personally. The Atlanta Hawks built a lead as large as 24 points, and ended up beating the Heat 116-105.

It was a collective effort by the Hawks, with seven players scoring in double digits. Trae Young led the charge with 25 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists. Clint Capela was a monster on the boards, getting 21 rebounds.

After the game, Shaquille O’Neal was happier than the Atlanta Hawks. I mean, why wouldn’t he be? Big Diesel had just won a Billion dollar bet, and he made sure Chuck knew it. He pretended to be on a call with the bank and said,

“To Shaquille O’Neal, 1 Billion Dollars!”

Charles Barkley could say nothing except, “Eh, more money, more problems!” 

Even the Hawks’ social media stepped up and made sure they enjoy this moment.

One would assume that the guys learn from their past betting adventures, but I guess they don’t.

NBA Twitter reacts to the Billion-Dollar bet

After watching Chuck make that Billion Dollar bet, the fans on Twitter were just waiting for the Hawks-Heat game to end. Either they would’ve come up with memes for Shaq, or for Chuck. With the Hawks winning, they let the Chuck memes out.

The Hawks would hope that Chuck makes yet another bet against them come Playoffs as well.