Why Was Charles Barkley Teased With Diet Coke on Live TV? Truth Behind Hilarious Joke by NBA on TNT Cast

Charles Barkley is a determined man. Over the past few years, the Philadelphia 76ers legend has been trying to incorporate healthier beverages into his life. While two years ago Barkley started by slowly trying to reduce the amount of diet coke he consumes per day by adding coffee to the mix, in 2024 he has decided to take it all the way. During the recent episode of Inside the NBA, Barkley shared his New Year’s resolution with his co-hosts. But little did he know that Shaquille O’Neal and the rest of the crew would use it to make a hilarious segment with the Round Mound of Rebound.

“You know I drink about 10 to 15, 20 diet cokes a day. I wanna give up diet coke,” said the 11x NBA All-Star. But he did not expect his co-hosts to be extremely supportive. So supportive that they would come over to his seat, take all his diet cokes, and start drinking them in front of him.

It was Shaquille O’Neal who started it off by asking, “Where the diet cokes at?” Barkley pulled out his ice container while O’Neal kept bringing out more and more cans from under the table where the Chuckster was sitting.

This is when the rest of the crew decided to join Shaq and have a diet coke of their own as the show was going off the air. Shaq, Ernie Johnson, and Kenny Smith could not contain their laughter as they sipped on their diet cokes while Barkley was left sitting with a bottle of water, which, upon tasting, he had earlier said, “This stuff it don’t even taste like anything.” This almost confirms that Barkley has not had a bottle of regular water in years, as Kenny Smith said during the show.

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But at the end of the day, it is good that Barkley has started to take care of himself. The 60-year-old has been recently trying new methods to get his health and his weight under control, but it seems like giving up diet coke is going to be harder than it seems, as Barkley has already failed the New Year resolution that he made two years ago.

This is not the first time Charles Barkley tried to curb his ‘drinking’ habits

In 2021, Barkley made a similar resolution. It was to start drinking two cups of coffee every day. The Inside the NBA crew decided to support Barkley in his venture by making him try out different varieties of coffee during the show.

While Barkley ended up saying that he wanted to go the healthier route, despite it not tasting that good, a few months ago, during an episode of Steam Room, he revealed that he hated the taste of coffee. He further added that he has only tried it a couple of times in his life, meaning that he had given up on his resolution.

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From what we know so far, it would be a leap to assume that Barkley would completely stop drinking diet coke. But as the big man has now started to prioritize his own health, only time will tell if Barkley can stick to his words. What do you think of Charles Barkley’s New Year’s resolution? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!