Ever since they became one of the “Inside Guys,” Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley have been trading a few jabs on air. And these frenemies will drag their fake feud for weeks as Shaq proved. Back in May 2023, Barkley accused Big Diesel of relying on other stars to win NBA championships on Inside the NBA. Shaq took that personally. He tried to bite back at Chuck through Instagram by sharing Tracy McGrady’s opinion on who is better among the co-hosts. But his grand revenge scheme fell flat because Sir Charles has no social media presence to view the opinions.

Barkley has not embraced social media and has publicly stated he is not going to give trolls the chance to take more shots at his life. However, it doesn’t stop certain people from posting their opinions about him online. One of them is seven-time NBA All-Star, Tracy McGrady. Shaq ran with McGrady’s opinion but made a critical mistake.

Shaquille O’Neal uses T-Mac’s opinion against Charles Barkley

The Round Mound of Rebound successfully got under Shaq’s skin during one broadcast of Inside the NBA. He claimed that Shaq only won his four NBA championship rings by riding on Dwyane Wade and Kobe Bryant’s coattails. The on-air debate was cut short to get back to the point but Mr. O’Neal was not done.

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This isn’t a new statement from Sir Charles. He made the same statement on Inside the NBA in 2017 too. O’Neal naturally wanted to prove he deserved those rings. Enter Tracy McGrady. The former Toronto Raptors star is regarded as one of the finest shooting guards and lauded as one of the best 1-on-1 players in league history.

Recently, McGrady answered who he thinks is better between Shaq and Chuck. He didn’t need to think too long before declaring Shaquille O’Neal as the winner.

“You can’t guard that. That’s like… that’s unguardable. Barkley is what 6’4″-6’5″ against the power of 7’1″, the most dominant player we’ve ever seen,” T-Mac said.

O’Neal shared that reel on his Instagram story as a jab at Barkley.

Did it work?

Who knows, because Barkley would not be able to see McGrady’s reel or O’Neal’s story as he is not on Instagram or any social media platform to care.

Charles Barkley is old school about social media

Barkley’s only presence on digital platforms is as an analyst on TNT and CBS Sports. He’s famously expressed his reluctance to jump on the social media bandwagon. His main reason is to stay away from the negativity.

In fact, his only social media activity is limited to Facebook. Barkley shared a picture of his grandchild on the platform recently, revealing his sole online account.

The Chuckster has said social media is for “losers.” Another jab at social media-savvy Shaquille O’Neal, perhaps? But we aspire for the friendship goals these NBA legends are to be comfortable poking fun at each other. That too on live TV!

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If Big Diesel has something to say to Chuck, he will have to do it to his face on Inside the NBA. For now, he chose the wrong platform to retort. Do you agree with McGrady’s opinion though?