TNT’s Shaquille O’Neal has already practiced it. The 4x NBA champ and Charles Barkley once prepared using a Kendrick Perkins punching bag for such an instance with ESPN. Clashes over opinions between these two parties are not frequent but are also not rare. With Turner’s Inside the NBA moving to ESPN next year, the confrontations are likely to get more intense. While the feud between these two parties was initially assumed to be over, it doesn’t seem like that after all.

During the latest segment of NBA on TNT, Ernie Johnson reminded viewers that ESPN would be going on air after some time to cover the 2nd game of the NBA Cup action between the Thunder and the Rockets. This prompted O’Neal to quickly add, “I better not see Kendrick Perkins. I know that.” That was when Kenny Smith urged the basketball legend to look to the side where the studio set for ESPN was, and it was Perkins sitting there.

That saw O’Neal comment, “There’s going to be some furniture moving if I see Kendrick Perkins. He can hear me talking.” “No, he doesn’t,” Charles Barkley just had to get involved. This prompted Shaq to shift his attention to the Chuckster. “I’ll knock your a-s out right now, Chuck. Say I won’t.” As Kenny tried to mediate, O’Neal said, “You know? I’m not gonna do it now. May 19th. Pay per view.”

While everyone is aware of the shenanigans between the TNT crew, this beef with ESPN, especially Perkins, is something new. It has only escalated since the time O’Neal and Perkins argued over the Knicks’ performance.

Perkins, who was clearly upset over Shaq and Charles Barkley’s criticism of the Knicks, made his stance known during his appearance on The Michael Kay Show. “Obviously they don’t watch basketball. I’m serious, they can’t watch basketball on a consistent basis. The only time they actually probably watch the Knicks are when they’re covering the Knicks on their game nights,” he said.

Well, the Los Angeles Lakers legend didn’t take it lightly. He was quick to respond and took to X and wrote, “Can a non hall of famer speak on two Hall of Famers just asking.” The feud doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon. To add to it, there’s another rivalry brewing between two other analysts.

Stephen A. Smith handed an embarrassing defeat to Kenny Smith hours before Shaquille O’Neal’s threat

ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith faced off against Inside the NBA’s Kenny Smith in a free-throw shooting contest ahead of the NBA Cup semi-final tonight. Initially, The Jet wanted to coach Shaq to battle against Stephen A., but he later decided to join the action himself. 

The ESPN analyst was seen practicing hard with NBA shooting coach Chris Matthews earlier in the day. Watching Stephen A. working so hard, the Jet even tried to discourage him as he posted, “I hear you on the gym while everybody sleep? @stephenasmith ? You been sleep 🛌 💤 last 40 years too late to catch up ! I’ve been up my whole life @lethalshooter .. it’s too late my dude !! Goodnight 🌙”

To make it fair, the retired NBA player suggested that he would shoot the ball with his left hand. But as we said before, it is quite unpredictable. And while many might have expected the 2x champion to win, Stephen A. excelled with three successful attempts out of five, defeating the former NBA player, who managed to make only one. Advantage ESPN.