Shaquille O’Neal is well aware that “snitches get stitches.” And he absolutely does not care if it means roasting Charles Barkley on national television.
The NBA on TNT crew faced a playoff marathon on Sunday with a tripleheader of games airing on TNT, plus a three-hour break for the game on ABC. Before they were even a full game into the day, O’Neal presented his proof that Barkley was sleeping on the job.
At halftime of the Philadelphia 76ers 125-118 win over the Washington Wizards, Barkley began dissecting the game when O’Neal jumped in.
“I’m sorry to interrupt,” O’Neal said, probably not that sorry to interrupt. “I know snitches get stitches, but he was not watching the game. And I have proof.”
Barkley hit him back with a “who?” before TNT showed a photo of Barkley, headphones on, clearly sleeping at the studio.
Barkley did admit to it and the group had a good laugh about it. Charles will be Charles, playoffs or not.
It wasn’t that long ago O’Neal spent a lot of time sleeping backstage at work. Dwyane Wade and Candace Parker had fun shooting grapes in his open mouth and laughing hysterically at his roar from inside an astronaut helmet.
“Shaq’s always sleeping,” Wade said.
The TNT crew has a short break while the Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns play on ABC. Barkley can continue his power nap and grab the highlights later.
TNT action is back at 7 p.m. ET with back-to-back games. The first is the Atlanta Hawks and the New York Knicks. The nightcap is the Memphis Grizzlies and Utah Jazz.
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