Behind-the-Scenes Footage Shows Fascinating Sh*t-Talking Between Shaq and Charles Barkley on Inside the NBA

Leaked footage from the set of Inside the NBA that spread on social media showed Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley recently getting into it before the show even went on the air.

The crew was live in Indianapolis for this season’s NBA All-Star Weekend. Minutes before the show was set to begin, O’Neal and Barkley were discussing O’Neal’s recent jersey retirement. O’Neal apparently took issue with the ceremony being broadcast on NBA TV as opposed to TNT. To him, it felt like his ceremony wasn’t important enough to be shown in front of a national audience.

“He says y’all didn’t give him any respect,” Barkley told host Ernie Johnson. “It should’ve been on TNT.”

Johnson explained that TNT had a doubleheader, meaning his ceremony conflicted with the second game of the night. Barkley agreed with a laugh.

O’Neal, still stoic, disagreed with Barkley claiming he was “mad” and “upset” about the ceremony being relegated to NBA TV.

“You said they didn’t show you any respect putting your shit on NBA TV,” Barkley said.

“That’s not complaining,” O’Neal said. “I was just telling a fucking snitch — I was telling people what they think I think.”

Kenny Smith then put his earpiece in and revealed he couldn’t hear the discussion. When Barkley filled him in, Smith agreed with O’Neal that the ceremony should have been on TNT despite the doubleheader.

When Barkley continued to argue that the right decision was made, O’Neal called him a “company guy.”

From there, the back-and-forth naturally descended into O’Neal mocking Barkley for never winning a championship. In response, Barkley trolled him about getting his jersey retired by the half-a-dozen teams he played for.