Charles Barkley didn’t allow the nearest big man to take a cop-out. ICYMI, the Paul-Tyson fiesta triggered words between Dwight Howard and Shaquille O’Neal on X. Now it’s spilled on TNT with the network trying to officialize the battle of the Supermans. O’Neal is still not having it. He threw a couple of excuses in there to get around Dwight’s open challenge. But Sir Charles gave Shaq no escape.

The Inside Guys were talking about Mike Tyson’s comeback fight and consequent defeat against Jake Paul on Friday. Shaq was at the match in Texas, inspired to kickstart his celebrity tournament. He and Chuck have thrown these challenges a lot (for some reason, the unlikely date is always May 19).

However, after watching Shaq’s interview on Netflix, TNT displayed Dwight Howard’s post. “Shaq Wassup Let’s Make Bread,” Dwight wrote with boxing emojis. Shaq already responded to the challenge on X and said something similar on TNT. “Only fight people who’s in the Top 75, Ernie,” Shaq, who was on the NBA 75th anniversary team with Chuck, claims while fixing his suit as if he didn’t drop that diss.

That was a low blow, or as Kenny Smith said, “Shots!” Indeed, shots were fired as a good number of NBA stars, including those on the Top 75, believe that Howard is one of the biggest snubs on the list. It’s why Charles Barkley responded to Shaq, “I think he should’ve been in there… Dwight.” Even Kenny agreed, and Barkley warned Shaq, “First of all, he’ll whoop your a–.” 

Shaq threw a few more cop-outs but Barkley and TNT ganged up on Shaq. At the risk of triggering Mr. Sensitive, TNT (fake) orchestrated the ‘Superman Heavyweight Championship of the World’ (fake) scheduled for May 19, 2025.

Charles Barkley is a good promoter

Chuckster doesn’t have to double down. Shaquille O’Neal subtly advocated for Dwight Howard’s inclusion in the NBA Top 75 only a couple of months ago. He’s done this in 2023 too. A few weeks later, Shaq and Dwight reignited their feud.

They had a series of exchanges on X that ended inconclusively and abruptly. But on Friday, when Shaq was on the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson fight night claiming, “Me and Gronk gonna put together NBA vs. NFL,” Howard also challenged him to a bout. In response to a fan that he didn’t tag Shaq, Howard stated O’Neal blocked him online.

Now O’Neal had to prove he’s not blocked Howard again, so he responded to that tweet with, “Gotta have more than one ring to get in the ring with me, I’ll stick with a real champion like @RobGronkowski, and you can have the Superman belt, all yours buddy.” It triggered another comment about the rulebook with some sassy emojis from Dwight, and TNT had to make the most of it.

TNT’s fight night announcement featured a fantastic montage by Turner’s talented graphics team, complete with side-by-side comparisons of not stats but Howard and O’Neal’s sponsorships. FYI, zero is inaccurate; Howard has had a few deals. But 952 deals by Shaq seem low for the endorsement machine.

Jokes aside, Barkley reiterated that Howard would beat O’Neal. He’s either genuinely worried—as he claims—that his best friend would get hurt, or Chuck is playing promoter and making this fight happen.