‘Face Your Fears Chuck!’ Petrified Charles Barkley Shudders as Giant Snake Joins Bizarre Inside the NBA Segment

Charles Barkley isn’t afraid to speak his mind or address a sensitive topic on live television. But when it comes to facing a live snake, that’s when Chuck panics.

A pre and postgame studio show unlike any other, Inside the NBA can sometimes be described as having a circus-like atmosphere, with the audience on the edge of their seats waiting to see what happens next. That was never more defined than Wednesday night when the TNT crew brought an actual circus on set to celebrate Barkley’s use of the guarantee button.

When Barkley has a prediction that he firmly believes, he announces the guarantee by pressing a button on his desk, which now simultaneously includes some sort of on-set shenanigan. Wednesday night’s celebration of Barkley picking the Denver Nuggets +6 featured a circus and a giant live python. With a look of horror, Barkley jumped back, clearly wanting nothing to do with the huge snake.

Even as his co-hosts, Shaq, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson encouraged him to “face your fears,” Chuck wasn’t having it.

“Snakes aren’t to be played with,” Barkley later said. The TNT crew attempted to frighten Barkley in the past with rubber snakes, but bringing out the real thing took the gag to another level. Making matters worse, Barkley’s guarantee fell flat, with Denver losing to the Phoenix Suns by 25.

Watch above via, TNT