“I Played Actually in the NBA”: Fight Breaks Out on Live TV as Charles Barkley Puts LeBron James’ Lakers Over Russell Westbrook’s Clippers

The NBA regular season is over and we are currently in the first round of the Playoffs. It is off to an intense start with matchups between LA Clippers and Phoenix Suns, and Los Angeles Lakers against Memphis Grizzlies. Not only are the games riveting but the off-court commentary is quite spirited too. Post-game 1, ‘Inside the NBA’ hosts, Charles Barkley and Ernie Johnson got into a charged-up conversation due to a disagreement over the results.

Alongside Barkley and Johnson, former NBA players Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith host the show. Although, even they could not believe the sight in front of them.

Ernie Johnson snaps at Charles Barkley for his absurd reasoning

On the latest episode of ‘Inside the NBA’, Ernie and Chuck get into a heated debate about Barkley’s “firm belief in the Clippers team despite the fact that they are the underdogs” against the Phoenix Suns. Chuck responded explaining his choice, “That’s just on paper. I think they got it. I think they are gonna win the series because they are deeper. Kawhi Leonard’s been arguably the best basketball player in the NBA in the last month.”

Charles added that he thinks the Clippers’ purposely tried to matchup against the Suns. That triggered a response from Ernie, who snapped back saying “Clippers didn’t want to fall in the play-ins” further trying to reason that “no coach would want his team to play in the play-in rather than avoid that.”

Charles hit back with a sharp “You are wrong!” and kept trying to push his logic from the perspective of a former player but Johnson simply was not having it and retorted with a jab at Barkley never making it to the NBA postseason. He stated that “you’re [Barkley] the only person who would want to be in the play-in”.

The conversation just escalated real quick after that.

Shaq and Kenny were both laughing awkwardly since, in Kenny’s words, they “have never seen Ernie and Chuck go at it”.

Ernie maintained that he simply “does not buy [Chuck’s] logic”. The eleven-time NBA All-Star gave his final retort by mocking Ernie’s practical experience in the game and asserted that he knows better because “I [he] played actually in the NBA” unlike Ernie who isn’t a basketball player.

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LeBron’s Lakers vs Westbrook’s Clippers: The better team?

The 1993 NBA MVP on the show asserts that LeBron’s Lakers have had it easier than the Clippers in the play-in tournament before. But Ernie just ended the debate by passing over to Shaq and asking him to “do [his] thing”.

Shaquille O’Neal picked up the conversation about having the “pathway to least resistance”, it only makes it easier when the team plays well as a whole rather than a single superstar. He referred back to his time in the league to emphasize his point, the only reason he won so many championships was that “[he] always had his others to help him win four championships”.

The former Lakers star added subtly, “He probably could have got one by [himself].” But he ended by expressing the important role his teammates played in making it easier to lead the team forward as a whole irrespective of who you go up against.

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Whether Barkley is biased toward the Clippers or not, both the LA Lakers and Clippers notched a victory in their first game of the Playoffs round one.

Both teams have had a great start and only time can tell who emerges victorious in the end. And as the hosts of the TNT show are battling it out on television, let us know in the comments who you think has the better chance at winning the championship.