A very doubtful bet was placed on the Cleveland Cavaliers. Not because the guys at TNT doubt the Cavs would lose their 15-0 streak. But because Shaquille O’Neal has a history of not paying up. The Inside Guys love how Cleveland is looking this season and threw a verbal parade for them. Somewhere in that discussion, Shaq threw a bet before the Cavaliers played at Boston. Charles Barkley demanded he up the stakes. As of this writing, the Cavs caught up to the Celtics 34-30 with less than 10 minutes left in the second quarter. O’Neal’s millions are hinging on them winning.

During their discourse about the Cavs’ coaching on Inside the NBA, Shaquille O’Neal threw out, “Cavs by 10″ a little quietly. If he was counting on his colleagues not catching it, he was wrong. Chuck instantly fired back like a drill sergeant, “Bet. Name it. How much? $2 million.” 

Shaq was bursting with a lot of confidence confirming, “Cash?” When Barkley said yes, he replied, “Deal.” Much later, Shaq ups the bet to $5 million in a hilarious fashion. The Cavs’ winning potential aside, we and Kenny can’t trust Shaq’s wager. The last time he was betting cold hard cash on TNT, he either didn’t pay up or he paid in ‘Shaq Bucks.’ That’s currency with his face on it as valuable as Monopoly money.

It makes Shaq now saying, “I got it,” more ironic. Charles Barkley, as always, knows the big guy has ‘too much money’ and is doubling down, “I know you got it.” The entire crew has faith in the Cavs winning. The bet is by how much. And Chuck is hoping it’s not by 10 so he can take Shaq’s money.

Even though Kenny “The Jet Smith” maintains, “You twos have never paid it back in 20 years.” Facts, Jet! But Kenny unknowingly sparked something online with his ribbing.

Shaq ups the ‘fake’ stakes

As Ernie Johnson rightfully pointed out, a bet like that sounds great on television. But Chuck has a history of losing in sports gambling. Very rarely has won his Super Bowl wagers putting his money on the Philadelphia Eagles each time. He once claimed his entire sports gambling losses amounted to $25 million.

That doesn’t stop him from challenging Shaq to up the stakes. These guys have a history of not paying up though. Last year, the moment Barkley lost $1 billion on TV went down in Inside history. Shaq claimed that Miami would beat Boston and exactly that happened. But given that Chuck’s net worth is $80 million, his bet was forgiven.

$500 million rich, Shaquille O’Neal tells Kenny he’s got $2 million in the locker room. Kenny doesn’t believe his bluff. So to prove his paying capacity, he said, “I can go another number.” Shaq kept bringing out stashes of cash from under the desk offering up to $3 million. Barkley challenged, “If you were a real man, make it $5 million.” And Shaq had no problem agreeing, pulling out more cash from under the table.

Until Kenny checked one of the stacks. He only had to peel the top dollar on it to reveal it was ‘Prop Movie Money.’ So again, Shaq was willing to pay with anything but real money. On social media, Boston fans are in stitches that Shaq’s betting prop money on them. Others are provoking Kenny to check his locker.

The game is at halftime with Boston leading 65-48. Whether Shaq gets to pay for real remains to be seen.