Charles Barkley Burns Shaq: ‘Anyone Can Get A Ring Riding Kobe Bryant’s Coattails’

Inside the NBA is one of the more entertaining studio shows in all of sports, because the group of Shaq, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson aren’t afraid of having a little fun with things, often at their own expense. If you can’t poke fun at yourself, you probably shouldn’t do it to others, but most of these NBA stars can take it just as well as they dish it.

Such was the case on Thursday night when the team was broadcasting live from Vegas and Barkley had this to say about Shaq’s three titles with the Lakers:

“Congratulations, but anybody could get a ring riding on Kobe Bryant’s coattails.”
Oh, that’s gotta sting at least a little bit.

Never one to let the opportunity for a comeback slip, Shaq was ready with a zinger of his own, choosing to highlight those pesky few extra pounds Chuck has struggled with over the years, an area that the Big Diesel has targeted in the past:

“They would have rode yours but you ate them fat boy.”

Ahh that Shaq, he’s got a wit of Oscar Wilde in 7-foot, 400-pound frame.

Thankfully both Hall of Famers — Shaq technically isn’t enshrined Springfield yet, but he almost assuredly will get in this year — have a good sense of humor and Ernie Johnson smartly threw to the next segment before the could take an uzi to each other’s egos even further.

Barkley was obviously kidding, but they say that there’s a grain of truth in every joke. A quick check on the numbers would show that Shaq more than pulled his weight during the Lakers three-peat run (he won Finals MVP of each title), but even if Barkley does really feel that way about his colleague, it’s still not his dumbest opinion of the season.

That would be reserved for his thoughts on the Warriors.

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