Charles Barkley vs. Stephen A. Smith: Who Had the Best Entrance?
1. With all due respect to the Heat and Celtics and the Warriors and Mavericks, the best highlights of the NBA weekend came from studio hosts Charles Barkley and Stephen A. Smith.
Both men decided to up their game for their entrances to their respective pregame shows.
With the Western Conference finals moving to Dallas on Sunday night, Barkley came to the Inside the NBA set on a horse.
Because Inside the NBA is the best sports studio show of all time, the cast did not disappoint, with Shaq and Kenny Smith rooting for Barkley to fall off the horse while also poking fun at Barkleyās size.
āThat horse got a strong back,ā said OāNeal. āThe horse is going, āPlease get this guy off me,ā said Smith, as Barkley made his way toward his colleagues.
The best part of the bit came when it was time for Barkley to get off the horse. Ernie Johnson, Shaq and Smith tried to analyze how Chuck would maneuver himself, but then it just turned into the guys rooting for Barkley to fall on his ass.
āHe cannot raise that right hip over the horseās head,ā observed Smith.
āPlease fall. Please fall. Please fall,ā shouted Shaq.
āI told you, he couldnāt get it over,ā yelled Smith.
Barkley finally managed to get off the horse and walk to the set to cap off a glorious stunt.
Chuck really pulled up to Dallas on a horse š¤£ #NBAonTNT pic.twitter.com/s5Olo0Whbn
ā NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 23, 2022
One night earlier, Stephen A. Smith didnāt use a horse. He just went with maximum swag while walking through the tunnel and into the arena for ESPNās pregame show.
.@stephenasmith's entrance for Game 3 in Boston is too cold š„¶š pic.twitter.com/A1K4e9fCSU
ā ESPN (@espn) May 21, 2022
The best part of Stephen Aās entrance was his reaction to someone who called him out for walking into TD Garden like he was a player.
Iām averaging much more than thatā¦ā¦..for ESPN and Walt Disney, my brother! Remember that!!!! https://t.co/67Ou1sjIMq
ā Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) May 22, 2022
Say whatever you want about Barkley and Smith, but you canāt ever accuse them of not knowing how to entertain the masses.
2. Props to Luka DonÄiÄ. He got destroyed by Andrew Wiggins last night and didnāt try to deny it after the game.
Andrew Wigins attempted to murder Luka with a dunk pic.twitter.com/bjGd2wYa23
ā CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) May 23, 2022
Luka Doncic on Andrew Wiggins' Q4 dunk over him: "That was impressive. Iām not going to lie. I saw the video again, and I was like, 'Ooof.' I wish I had those bunnies.ā
ā Callie Caplan (@CallieCaplan) May 23, 2022
3. Steph Curry took a spill last night after getting tripped along the sidelines.
After contesting a shot, Stephen Curry appears to have tripped over a sideline waiter.pic.twitter.com/y9jC7JdeEC
ā ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 23, 2022
Of course, this is not the first time a star player got tripped running up the sideline during an NBA game.
4. Jim Nantz gave us a vintage Jim Nantz signature line to close out the PGA Championship on Sunday.
"It's just in time again at the PGA Championship."
ā Golf on CBS ā³ (@GolfonCBS) May 22, 2022
Justin Thomas wins The Wanamaker Trophy for the second time! pic.twitter.com/2gTDXm7kRB
5. Iāll never understand why we donāt see more fake-out plays, like this one pulled off by the Dodgersā Justin Turner on Sunday, in Major League Baseball.
Justin Turner just faked out JT Realmuto in extras š® pic.twitter.com/9mD7sds0A2
ā B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) May 22, 2022
6. This week's SI Media Podcast is an allāTraina Thoughts edition. Sal Licata, from WFAN and SNY, who joins me every week for the segment, is on for the full show, where we discuss the following topics:
ā¢ NFLās Thanksgiving and Christmas games
ā¢ Phil Mickelsonās betting
ā¢ Worst bets weāve ever made
ā¢ Drew Breesās future
ā¢ The best sports quote of the week
ā¢ Upcoming roast of Tom Brady
ā¢ Carmen Electra joining OnlyFans
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Here's a very enjoyable Larry David story.
Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.