2025 All-Star Game team captains Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neal engaged in a comical trade discussion during Thursday's TNT broadcast. However, O'Neal had no interest in parting ways with Barkley's target, Dallas Mavericks star point guard Kyrie Irving.
Last week, Barkley, O'Neal and fellow TNT co-host Kenny Smith drafted their squads for this year's newly formatted tournament-style All-Star Game. Unfortunately for Barkley and O'Neal, their teams each lost one of their top players to injuries ahead of the event.
On Monday, Atlanta Hawks star point guard Trae Young replaced Milwaukee Bucks superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (calf) for Team Chuck. Meanwhile, Irving substituted for his superstar Mavericks teammate Anthony Davis (groin) for Team Shaq.
Barkley drafted an international-themed squad, which he named "Chuck's Global Stars." So, on Thursday, the crew gave him a chance to trade for the Australian-born Irving.
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The Hall of Famer jumped at the opportunity, proposing a deal involving Young to O'Neal.
"Shaq, I'll trade you — I'll take Kyrie, and you take Trae," Barkley said. "You know you want to do that (hawk call)."
However, O'Neal was uninterested in taking Atlanta's $215,159,700 maximum contract guard. Instead, the four-time NBA champion opted to stick with his veteran player theme, having named his squad "Shaq's OGs."
"Who's older?" O'Neal asked.
"Kyrie," Barkley replied.
"Trae, no. OG. I want the older players because you youngsters and you Europeans don't have a shot," O'Neal said.
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Shaquille O'Neal asks Charles Barkley to do convincing hawk call to pull off Kyrie Irving-Trae Young All-Star Game trade
After rebuffing Charles Barkley's trade offer, Shaquille O'Neal gave his co-host one last chance to pull off a Kyrie Irving deal. The 15-time All-Star asked Barkley to do a convincing hawk call that would win over the San Francisco Bay Area crowd.
"I'll tell you what, I'll give you one chance to do a hell of a (hawk call), and if the fans love it, I will okay the trade," O'Neal said.
However, bystanders seemingly disapproved of Barkley's attempt, with O'Neal reiterating that the trade was a no-go entering Sunday's All-Star Game semifinal matchups.
"Y'all like that?" O'Neal asked. "They don't like it. No trade."
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