Victor Oladipo of the Indiana Pacers was a guest commentator on Inside the NBA on Sunday night. It was a chance for those who know him from his time on the court to get to know the guard in a much different light.
Oladipo sat in Kenny Smith’s chair on Sunday, leaving him with Shaq, Ernie Johnson, and Charles Barkley to talk about Jazz/Rockets and a litany of NBA playoff news. But perhaps the most exciting part of the evening was when Barkley and Oladipo teamed up for a duet of a song they’ve both sang before, “New York, New York.”
The show had clips showing Oladipo performing the song as part of the All-Star talent contest, while Barkley seems to have performed it along with some sort of lounge act. But the two were asked to get up together and sing it together, which they gladly did.
“Let me lead, bro,” Oladipo said. “Let me lead.”
"Applause is the only thing that will stop them." 😂😂😂@VicOladipo & Chuck team up for "New York, New York" duet. #InsidetheNBA pic.twitter.com/eb3Wu5t9OT
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 7, 2018
And lead he did! The clip shown from All-Star Weekend in Brooklyn has Oladipo singing in a slightly different cadence than one might expect if the Sinatra version of the song comes to mind. On Sunday, Oladipo stayed in that cadence, so it was a bit tougher for Chuck to jump in and sing with him.
What resulted was a bit disjointed, with the guys taking separate verses. After a while, however, the singing stops altogether. Oladipo starts dancing instead, moonwalking and doing a spin to show off the nice suit and fancy shoes. Barkley was razzed for letting the show down, as Oladipo clearly had a better singing voice. But as is always the case with one of the best studio shows ever put together, it was all in good fun anyway.
