Charles Barkley Slams Shaquille O'Neal, Calls Him Third Best Lakers Center All-Time

Hall of Famer former NBA superstars-turned-TNT commentators Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkely got into it during their "Inside The NBA" postgame broadcast on Thursday — albeit (mostly) in jest.

After watching the 37-28 Milwaukee Bucks throttle the banged-up Los Angeles Lakers (who fell to 40-24), 126-106, and the 38-28 Golden State Warriors obliterate the Domantas Sabonis-less Sacramento Kings (who dropped to 33-32), 130-104, O'Neal and Barkley got to talking about where Warriors All-Star point guard Stephen Curry ranks among all-time greats.

From there, the conversation quickly devolved into — you guessed it — personal barbs wherein the two exchanged blows over their own playing careers, specifically with regards to O'Neal's tenures with the Orlando Magic and Los Angeles Lakers and Barkley's ring count.

Charles Barkley calls Shaq the third best Lakers center and second best Magic center 😬

Shaq: “I’ve got more rings than you and [Dwight Howard] combined. And Wilt. I got more rings than all of y’all.”

(via @NBAonTNT) pic.twitter.com/KVLu7SYubd
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) March 14, 2025

"You're like the third-best Lakers center ever, I think," Barkley told O'Neal.

"That's fine, I can deal with that," O'Neal said.

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"Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar] and Wilt [Chamberlain are better]," Barkley continued. "You're like the second-best Orlando Magic center after Dwight [Howard]."

"Here we go," Kenny "The Jet" Smith chimed in.

O'Neal infamously loathes Howard, who like O'Neal joined the Lakers (albeit in a trade, whereas O'Neal signed in free agency) after being drafted first overall by the Magic.

“Hey but, I’ve got more rings than you and [Dwight Howard] combined," O'Neal retorted. "And Wilt. I've got more rings than all of y’all."

O'Neal won four championships during his 19-year playing career — three with the Lakers and one with the Miami Heat. Howard won his lone title with Los Angeles. Chamberlain won once with the Philadelphia 76ers and once with the Lakers.

Although the Warriors were leading the Kings by double digits, 61-51, at the halftime break, Barkley guaranteed that Sacramento would rally.

The Barkley Curse struck again tonight in San Francisco 😂 pic.twitter.com/ftIoK3GHK1
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) March 14, 2025

"I'm not even worried about it," Barkley said. "They're gonna win this game. All they've gotta do is take care of the ball."

Smith noted that the Warriors had gone 12-1 in the games All-Star new addition Jimmy Butler had played.

"Yeah, well they're gonna be 12-2 [after] tonight, how about that?" Barkley responded.

Instead, they did anything but.

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Although Sacramento did manage to keep things close in the third quarter, Golden State blew the doors open in the fourth frame, outscoring the Kings 34-21 behind some ferocious Jonathan Kuminga slams (in his first game back on the hardwood following a two-month injury layoff) and floor spacing from starting small forward Moses Moody, forward Gui Santos and guard Buddy Hield.

Eight Warriors scored in double digits, led surprisingly be their occasional TNT colleague Draymond Green's 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field (4-of-7 from long range) and 3-of-4 shooting from the charity stripe. Curry notched an astounding 4,000th 3-point shot in the third quarter.

Following the defeat, Barkley joking tried to pass off blame on a reporter who had ditched the TNT crew to work with the Kings.

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