LOS ANGELES, CA – JULY 13: (L-R) Former NBA players Charles Barkley, Reggie Miller and Shaquille O’Neal attend the 2016 ESPYS at Microsoft Theater on July 13, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images)
Shaq is no stranger to putting himself up on a pedestal, but Charles Barkley took umbrage with O’Neal saying he was better than Wilt Chamberlain.
The Inside the NBA crew on TNT thrives whenever Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley are trading barbs. It’s one of the best parts of any NBA season. And it didn’t take long for Shaq to stoke the fire on Tuesday on NBA Opening Night.
As the crew was unveiling the NBA‘s 75th Anniversary Team, Shaq made the bold claim that he was better than all-time great Hall-of-Famer Wilt Chamberlain.
To put it plainly, this was not a take that Barkley agreed with.
Who cares if Shaq is or isn’t better than Wilt Chamberlain; we’re just glad the NBA is back
Sure, it’s doable to go with a side-by-side comparison of O’Neal and Chamberlain, but that’s not the point here.
For months, we’ve missed having the NBA in our lives. And outside of the players on the floor with the Bucks vs. Nets and Warriors vs. Lakers matchups, there’s nothing to make fans feel like they are home again with basketball than Shaq and Chuck getting into it over something trivial.
That’s what we got here as Barkley was having absolutely none of O’Neal’s claims that he was better than Wilt. You know it’s going to be a great moment whenever he gets indignant over something like this and he very much did so on Tuesday night.