For the Inside the NBA crew from the TNT network, the season is over. Time to make summer vacation plans for cast and crew. If you saw the last TNT game of the year, you saw a great, heartwarming moment between Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley.
It happened last Sunday night, as of this posting date. On the TNT pregame show before Game 2 of the Finals, Shaq took the time to say all kinds of nice things about his co-host and on-screen partner in crime, “Sir” Charles Barkley.
O’Neal called Barkley “The older brother I never had.” Quite the compliment! Also, it turns out O’Neal and Barkley were connected even before their friendship developed on television.
Here’s a collection of tweets on the exchange:
Shaq told the story: “His mom and my mom had the sweetest friendship, and I didn’t even know. I used to hate Charles. We were getting ready to get into a fight, and before I could get to the locker room and put my clothes on to go down to the locker room and see him, I get a call from his mother… who said ‘don’t you hit my boy’ and I was like ‘who is this?’”
Even if the two occasionally trade barbs on television, it appears the relationship between them has never been stronger. According to Shaq, those tense moments are all out of love.
“We fight, we argue,” O’Neal said. “I have little brothers, I have teammates, Grant [Hill] has seen me choke one of my teammates out. It’s part of love.”
Well, that’s a strange way to show the love, but if it works for the Big Man, we’re cool with it. Shaq and Charles have turned Inside the NBA into must-see TV for any hoops fan. We’re happy to see them enjoying each other’s company on and off the TV set.
