- Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley are known for their love-hate relationship
- Barkley joined the TNT team in 2000 before O’Neal joined 11 years later.
- DailyMail.com provides the latest international sports news.
A video montage posted by Bleacher Report showed NBA legends Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley fighting at TNT’s Studio J in Atlanta.
The compilation highlights the tandem’s iconic love-hate relationship Inside the NBA as Bleach Report captioned, “Shaq and Chuck always do it,” with a laughing-crying emoji.
The six-minute video included a clip of the pair fighting as O’Neal struggled to take Barkley down. After seconds of hugging and spinning, the four-time title-winning center tackled his colleague before lying on top of him to count the pins.
“I hope they don’t break up,” one user wrote, citing the fun moments Barkley and O’Neal provided fans over the years.
The comment also references the expiration of Turner’s television rights deal with the NBA at the end of the 2024-2025 season, which could end O’Neal and Barkley’s working relationship.
A clip published by Bleacher Report shows Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley fighting
Barkley and O’Neal’s love-hate relationship has provided some hilarious moments on TNT
Fans urged the couple not to split up in the comments section below Bleacher Report’s post.
While the end of the iconic show is not final, ESPN and Amazon Prime are reportedly leading the bidding war to obtain the rights to the NBA regular season.
The iconic TNT team featured Ernie Johnson since 1990 and Houston Rockets legend Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith since 1998. Barkley joined in 2000 before O’Neal completed the quartet in 2011.
Inside the NBA has won 13 Sports Emmy Awards since O’Neal joined the team. Additionally, Barkley won four Emmy Awards as a studio analyst.
Another clip from the compilation showed O’Neal, once again, attempting to take down Barkley. This time, he did it in a wrestling ring erected in the studio with AEW star Chris Jericho as a guest.
In the clip, O’Neal grabs Barkley’s back and lifts him up before dropping him to the canvas. Diesel climbs to the second rope, trying to jump on Barkley, who smartly rolls out of the ring as he laughs.
The couple may soon split as Turner’s television rights deal with the NBA expires next year.
Barkley joined the NBA on team TNT in 2000 before O’Neal joined in 2011.
Inside the NBA has won 13 Sports Emmy Awards since O’Neal joined
In addition to their fun physical interactions, the montage also included their heated verbal arguments.
“You don’t want to waste your time with Chuck,” O’Neal says in one clip. “You have no idea what you’re talking about because you’ve only been to the final once.”
“I wasn’t following Dwyane Wade and Kobe,” The Round Mound of Rebound responded.
“People wonder why you’re in the Hall of Fame anyway,” O’Neal joked. ‘Ass.’
TNT recently leveraged their unique relationship in a promotion for its coverage of the NBA playoffs. In the commercial, O’Neal and Barkley attended couples therapy with Julius Erving as their therapist.
The promo ended with O’Neal and Barkley doing a confidence drop exercise, in which the former center fell onto a glass table.