24 Years After Being Forced Into Friendship, Charles Barkley Recalled Unpleasant First Impression of Shaquille O’Neal: “Damn He Ugly”

Inside The NBA often provides fans with the funniest segments. What makes it even more special is the constant friendly banter between Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley. From naming him “Big Free Throw Misser” to hilariously explaining how Shaq rubs lotion on his body, the iconic duo have the fans in splits. In a resurfaced video from Inside The NBA, Shaquille O’Neal was getting the shorter end of the stick as he became the target of the jokes in the show.

Talking about first impressions, things seemed to have gotten “ugly” between the two. Let’s find out how?

Charles Barkley showed no mercy to Shaquille O’Neal

In the first clip, it was Charles Barkley talking about seeing Shaquille O’Neal for the first time. During the segment, Barkley discussed Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks getting a win against the Atlanta Hawks in the 2021 Eastern Conference finals. While mentioning the dominance of Antetokounmpo at his size and frame, he remembered the first time he saw Shaq in person.

Barkley was about to praise Shaq for being able to move the way he did while being that tall. But before that, he had to keep the friendly banter intact. Thus, he pointed out that the first thing he thought when he saw Shaq was, “Damn, he’s ugly”. This led to Shaq laughing out loud, and the cast has a good moment.

Following this, they showed another picture of Shaquille O’Neal when he was in second grade in school. In the picture, Shaquille O’Neal was dressed and playing the part of a tree in a school play. Seeing this, Barkley commented, “That explains your defensive presence” which is a slight diss towards Shaq’s lack of movement in the defensive end towards the end of his career.

No matter how much the two argue and fight against each other on TV, both of them have been the best of friends for years.

Forced beginnings to best friends

Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley got into a fight on the court in 1999. Shaq was ready to fight Barkley once the match ended. But this was when Shaq got a phone call from his mom. She said the two shouldn’t fight, and that’s when Shaq realized that both Shaq and Barkley’s mothers were friends.

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Charles Barkley has revealed that they have been the closest of friends for decades now, as have their mothers. According to Barkley, their mothers were best friends. This same relationship has been passed down to their kids, as both Barkley and Shaq have been great friends off camera when they are not going at each other’s throats during Inside the NBA while trying to defend their points against one another.

Do you enjoy the banter between the two greatest NBA players of all time? Let us know in the comments below.

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