“He Didn’t Speak to Us”: Charles Barkley Exposes Shaquille O’Neal in Public With TNT Godfather

What does Charles Barkley call Shaquille O’Neal? It’s ‘Mr. Sensitive.’ While on The Steam Room, a caller reminded them of an infamous incident where for once, Chuck got under Shaq’s skin. The caller referred to their on-air antics during the 2019 playoff series. Barkley this time provided the continuation of the story. And according to him, poking the 7-foot Diesel can get messy.

Shaq was so mad at Sir Charles for interrupting him that he threatened to throw a can at the 1993 NBA MVP. It made Chuck dub him, “Mr Sensitive” and it got worse from there. Behind the scenes the gentle giant completely shut out his friends for a day and a half. “One of the great stories in Inside history. Shaq was so mad he didn’t speak to to us the rest of the night or the next day and he was really mad,” Charles Barkley recalled .

Back then, they were filming The Inside Story, the 2021 documentary on Inside the NBA and its long history. Ernie Johnson challenged his co-analysts to speak their piece in 3 minutes. Barkley spoke, then Kenny, and then came Shaq’s turn. But Barkley interrupted O’Neal before he could start.

Shaq was so incensed, he refused to speak further. All he said was, “It’s supposed to be one, two three. Not one, two, back to one.” That was the incident the caller referred to. Now we know O’Neal continued being mad about it off-air for a whole day. Especially because the other panelists kept laughing at his anger. As per Chuck, an angry Shaq is a bad sign.

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“I had to let it go…Cause once he flips the switch to mad anything can happen. So Kenny’s like, ‘Yo man let it go because this dude is so hot right now,’” Barkley recalled. “I will tell you this about Shaq, Shaq is very sensitive…He’s very sensitive, he makes us laugh because he can give you s***. But when you give him s***, he gets all sensitive,” revealed the Chuckster.

Thankfully, these antics are only permissible within the TNT quartet. Of course, that still doesn’t mean Shaq isn’t bitter about it.

Shaquille O’Neal is not laughing

With the benefit of hindsight, Barkley said, “That was one of the funniest things… this dude was so bad, he didn’t speak to us for like three days.”

The Big Aristotle was so stubborn, he didn’t give any insight and it was one of the few weeks they didn’t have a carryover episode because of a lack of Shaq’s content. Ultimately, it was TNT and basketball fans who paid the price.

Two years after that incident, Shaq told his friends, “Y’all laughing, that s*** ain’t funny. I was mad that day.” He even said on his podcast last year he still hasn’t forgiven Sir Charles.

READ MORE: “I’m Glad He’s Gone” – Why Was Charles Barkley’s Absence Celebrated on TNT’s Live Show?

What do you think about these lingering feelings between the Chuckster and Mr. Sensitive Shaq?