Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley, who were questioned by fellow NBA player-turned-analyst Kendrick Perkins regarding their basketball viewing habits, figured in a hilarious dance-off during Game 4 of the first-round series between the Orlando Magic and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
In the backstage area of the Inside the NBA studio, Shaq showed off some cool dance moves, while the “Chuckster” elicited laughs with his crab-like moves.
All of this occurred with Game 4 playing in the background, during which the Magic secured a convincing 112-89 victory. Franz Wagner's stellar performance of 34 points and 13 rebounds led the Magic to the win, tying the Eastern Conference first-round series at 2-2.
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A back-and-forth has been ongoing between Kendrick Perkins and the notorious former player duo of Inside the NBA. Earlier this month, Perkins appeared on the Michael Kay Show and criticized Barkley and O'Neal, accusing them of only watching NBA basketball when their network is broadcasting games.
“It’s obvious they don’t watch basketball,” Perkins said. “I’m serious. They can’t watch basketball on a consistent basis. The only time they actually probably watch the Knicks is when they’re covering the Knicks on their game nights.”
As a result, Barkley and O'Neal have taken the step of setting up a punching bag featuring Kendrick Perkins’ face in the Inside the NBA studio.
Kendrick Perkins, Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley take Thunder to advance to Round 2
Despite their differing opinions, Kendrick Perkins and the Inside the NBA duo unanimously agreed on one point after Saturday’s games: the OKC Thunder are poised to advance to the second round.
The Thunder decimated the Pelicans in Game 3, 106-85, to take a 3-0 lead in the series.
After the game, Perkins took to X (formerly Twitter) to express amazement at the Thunder's dominant performance against the Pelicans.
“I didn’t pick the Pelicans to win this series but I damn sho ain’t expect this!!! That 2 headed monster of SGA and J-Dub are about that life and this Thunder team is standing on business right now. God Bless America,” he said.
SGA had 24 points and eight assists while Jalen Williams had 21 points, nine rebounds and five assists in OKC's Game 3 win.
Meanwhile, Barkley and Shaq comically predicted that the Pelicans would begin their offseason soon. Shaq asked Barkley where the Pelicans would be heading, and Barkley responded:
“We're not even going to send them to Cancun. We're gonna send them to Galveston, where that dirty a** water be washed up on the shore. You people think they're at the beach. We're not gonna send you to Cancun.”
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