The NBA Awards took place on Monday night in Santa Monica and were shown live on TNT. And while Charles Barkley and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were presenting the Lifetime Achievement Award (given to Oscar Robertson), live television found Bill Russell flipping off Barkley:
Russell — an 11-time NBA champion — tweeted that he’s sorry for flipping the bird on live television, but said “it is just pure instinct” whenever he sees Barkley.
Sorry everyone, I forgot it was live TV & I can’t help myself whenever I see Charles it just is pure instinct. @NBAonTNT @NBA #birdman #NBAAwards pic.twitter.com/0zQLvWhuKi
— TheBillRussell (@RealBillRussell) June 26, 2018
There are a lot of Inside the NBA viewers over the years that probably had a similar reaction to some of Barkley’s takes.
Twitter also enjoyed the 84-year-old’s reaction to performance from Travis Scott:
https://twitter.com/highkin/status/1011437215488983040
Bill Russell clapping after Travis Scott’s performance with a “what the fuck did I just watch” look on his face was the best part of the #NBAAwards show
— Ryan (@Ryan_OD3) June 26, 2018
https://twitter.com/elijahcarey98/status/1011437790687420416
[TNT]
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.