“A bum can never hurt my feelings.”
It is confirmed that Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Ernie Johnson are the same people off-air as they are on-air.
A recent leak of a video showing the Inside the NBA team getting ready for Sunday’s broadcast of the All-Star game suggested that there might be animosity toward TNT. Not its on-air talent against Shaq, but TNT against Shaq. Barkley claims that Shaq was upset that his Orlando Magic jersey retiring ceremony was shown on NBA TV rather than TNT
Shaq begins the clip by saying, probably alluding to TNT, “They just know they can’t ask me to do nothing for him, that’s all.”
“That is not something to be angry about,” Barkley shot back. “He is upset because his ceremony was not shown. It was broadcast on NBA TV. He replies, “It should have been on TNT, and you guys didn’t show him any respect.”
Johnson stated that NBA TV ought to have aired the ceremony, but TNT was unable to do so due to a doubleheader. which they carried out.
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Since Shaq is a huge star at TNT, perhaps they should have found a method to stream a portion of his jersey retirement ceremony in real time. However, the bigger problem is that Shaq’s jersey should never have been retired by the Orlando Magic. After spending four seasons as an Orlando player, he was knocked out in the NBA Finals and left the Magic for Los Angeles, which caused them to go out of business for ten years.
Furthermore, the Magic did Shaq no favors if ensuring that TNT showed the ceremony was his top goal. After the game, Orlando had the jersey retirement ceremony, which made it difficult for TNT to broadcast live because they had another game to cover. Perhaps the ceremony wouldn’t have been moved on NBA TV if it had been a pregame.
“What is the issue with NBA TV?” Barkley inquired.
He’s a company man, Shaq angrily declared. “You really are a company guy,” I said.
Shaq was then reminded by Barkley of his considerable influence in Phoenix, and Barkley teased that if the Suns retired Shaq’s jersey, TNT would broadcast the event. Barkley laughed and said, “When they retire his jersey in Cleveland, we should do the show from there that night.” It goes without saying that Shaq’s jersey will not be retired by the Suns or Cavaliers, nor will Barkley’s be retired by the Rockets.
Shaq remarked, “A bum can never hurt my feelings,” pointing out that he had four rings to Barkley’s none. “Believe me. When contrast to me, he is homeless.
The video footage that was shared is more than five minutes. Aside from a couple of profanities, the most of the video could have been shown by TNT without anybody realizing it wasn’t intended for television. Off-camera, the dynamics amongst the members of the Inside the NBA crew seem to mirror those on-camera. Barkley and Shaq argue and joke around, and Kenny Smith only speaks when necessary, all while Ernie Johnson acts as the parent in the room, making sure that no one gets angry.
