'Inside the NBA' stars Charles Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson discuss a Rockets-Knicks game televised by ESPN on ABC. Credit: ESPN on ABC
By Matt Clapp on

It’s unclear if it was a Freudian slip or his way of mocking the team, but Charles Barkley called the New York Knicks “the Dicks” during halftime of Saturday night’s ESPN on ABC coverage of the Knicks’ game against the Houston Rockets. And it left Shaquille O’Neal on the verge of tears in laughter.

Inside the NBA host Ernie Johnson asked Barkley, “How did the 13-point lead vanish so quickly for New York?”

“Well, I think that the Dicks, to me, their offense got stagnant,” Barkley said.

O’Neal and Kenny Smith immediately started laughing, with Shaq particularly struggling to contain it as the halftime show carried on.

A few minutes later, Inside the NBA shared a couple of social media posts from viewers.

The first social media post asked why O’Neal was laughing.

“Because I was talking about my good friend Dick Vitale,” O’Neal said. “Love you, Dick Vitale.”

“Dick Vitale is a great man, isn’t he?” Barkley responded.

“Yes, he is,” O’Neal agreed.

“I wish that were actually the reason,” Johnson said.

“The New York WHAT, Chuck?” was the other X post, which Johnson read on the show before laughing hard. “We’ll have to play the tape back for you, man.”

“Yeah, play it again,” O’Neal said. “Say it again, Chuck.”

Even with ESPN, the Inside the NBA shenanigans are still alive and well.

Perhaps word got back to the Knicks about Barkley’s team name phrasing and sparked a comeback.

The Knicks trailed by 18 points with under 11 minutes remaining and completed their biggest comeback of the season in a wild 108-106 victory at Madison Square Garden.

About Matt Clapp

Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.

He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.

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