Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith Once Left Charles Barkley In Shambles With Their Adam Sandler Joke On “Degenerate Gambler”

Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith once had a good laugh at the expense of Charles Barkley after calling him a “degenerate gambler“. The phrase was initially used by Ernie Johnson to refer to Adam Sandler’s character in his brilliant 2019 movie Uncut Gems. But Shaq and Kenny found a way to channel it as an insult to Chuck.

The Inside the NBA is famous for the banter between its cast members Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley, and Kenny Smith. Millions of viewers tune in to see Barkley and Shaq going at it with each other and Kenny Smith trying to fan the fire between them.

In fact, the banter sometimes gets so out of hand that Ernie Johnson has to step in to keep the show moving.

Shaquille O’Neal trolls Charles Barkley in front of Adam Sandler

Adam Sandler is a big fan of basketball and the NBA. In fact, he himself is pretty good at it for an amateur. Therefore, it is never a surprise to find him hanging out with the NBA on TNT crew talking basketball.

After talking shop for a while, Ernie mentioned Sandler’s brilliant portrayal of the character of a Jewish-American jeweler with a gambling addiction in his movie Uncut Gems. In fact, he used the words “degenerate gambler” to describe the character.

Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal saw this as a golden opportunity to make fun of Charles Barkley’s past gambling habits. They immediately asked Sandler, “You played Charles Barkley in the movie?”

The whole room instantly burst into laughter. However, Shaq and Kenny laughed the hardest. Adam Sandler tried his best to hold back laughter. Charles Barkley stood there laughing hesitantly.

Meanwhile, Ernie had to take control of the situation by moving on. Incidentally, Barkley had a habit of gambling during his younger years. He spent a lot of money gambling in casinos.

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In an interview, he talked about losing a million dollars in the span of a single day multiple times.

The friendship between Shaq and Adam Sandler

Adam Sandler and Shaquille O’Neal know each other for a long time. Sandler is a huge Lakers fan. He used to go to the Staples Center to watch Shaq play for the Lakers back in the day.

Incidentally, Shaq asked Sandler for a movie role multiple times. Sandler responded with a request to win a championship first.

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Finally, after the Lakers’ three-peat, Shaquille O’Neal and Adam Sandler appeared in many movies together. Their most recent stint was the comedy-thriller Hubie Halloween (2020).