Without any hesitation, the NBA playoff are the best time of the year. We see players going at it with everything they have, trying to bring a championship to their city. Just like things get heated on the court, we can see analysts engaging in passionate debates, too.
Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal are the perfect example of that. We see them exchanging jabs regularly, but things get more intense once the playoffs arrive.
In a recent edition of TNT’s “Inside the NBA,” the two NBA legends discussed the different defensive strategies of the Milwaukee Bucks in Games 1 and 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals. They disagreed on what really changed for Mike Budenholzer’s team, which led to an interesting back and forth between the former MVPs.
“The Atlanta Hawks got lucky in Game 1 that the Milwaukee Bucks had the worst defensive strategy in the history of strategization,” Chuck started.
When Shaq disagreed with those comments, the situation escalated and they started taking shots at one another for their defensive talents (or lack of) during their active days.
Shaq: “First of all, you don’t know nothing about no defense.” }
Chuck: “You were an awful defensive player on the pick-and-roll… I was a better defender than you.”
Shaq: “No, you wasn’t.”
Chuck: “You the worst big man defender in the history of basketball, other than Brook Lopez in Game 1.”
https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/1409297988493533186
Every time these two go at it, NBA fans have a blast. Whenever they discuss current NBA matters, somebody needs to bring what they did or didn’t when they were part of the league.
In the end, the Bucks proved Barkley right, as they won Game 3 of the ECF, 112-103, holding the Hawks to only 17 points in the 4th quarter. Chuck gave Shaq a major burn after that initial exchange, getting two wins in one night.
