One week after Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal’s beef with Kendrick Perkins first began, the feud turned physical.
Well, kind of.
During TNT’s broadcast of Inside the NBA following the Dallas Mavericks’ victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday night, Barkley and O’Neal took aim at a punching bag baring Perkins’ face. Barkley teed off on the picture of Perkins — which was missing a tooth — with a series of jabs, while O’Neal utilized his turn by showering the punching bag with a super soaker before putting on boxing gloves and throwing some blows of his own.
“Leave us alone, roach!” Barkley exclaimed.
https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/1783009435054469320
After the NBA on TNT X account posted the clip of Barkley and O’Neal’s sparring session, Perkins replied: “Hey @NBAonTNT tell Chuck he ain’t ready to get his feet hot with me,” adding a crying laughing emoji for good measure.
https://twitter.com/KendrickPerkins/status/1783010979749797972
The back and forth on Tuesday night came one week after Perkins first took aim at the pair of Inside the NBA analysts by proclaiming, “It’s obviously (that) they don’t watch basketball” during an appearance on The Michael Kay Show.
“I’m serious, they can’t watch basketball on a consistent basis,” the 14-year NBA veteran added. “The only time they actually probably watch the Knicks are when they’re covering the Knicks on their game nights.”
Unsurprisingly, it didn’t take long for the pair of Hall of Fame big men to respond, with O’Neal stating, “We don’t watch the Knicks games, Chuck, but I watched that game” the following night. That provided Barkley with the opportunity to take his own swipe at Perkins, with the 1993 NBA MVP replying, “Shaq, you out here killing roaches, aren’t you? I ain’t going to even give no love to a guy who averaged five points per game. Five points a game gon’ call me out?”
In the past week alone, Perkins has also teed off on Bill Simmons, Reggie Miller and critics of Richard Jefferson. But it’s his feud with Inside the NBA‘s two biggest stars that appears to have the most staying power.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.