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Shaquille O'Neal Roasts Charles Barkley's Weight In Interview With Boxing Legend

Shandel Richardson

Feb 16, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; TNT broadcaster Shaquille O'Neal (left) and Charles Barkley talk during the 2013 NBA All-Star slam dunk contest at the Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images
Feb 16, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; TNT broadcaster Shaquille O'Neal (left) and Charles Barkley talk during the 2013 NBA All-Star slam dunk contest at the Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images / Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

There are zero boundaries for the jokes feud between Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neal.

They happen when both are in studio on TNT's Inside The NBA. They happen when doing play-by-play of games. They don't even have to be around each other for the jokes to fly.

That was the case when O'Neal was interviewing boxing legend Evander Holyfield on an episode of the Big Podcast. O'Neal turned a compliment about Holyfield's health into a shot at Barkley's weight.

"Well, can I get a list of the vitamins you take," O'Neal said to Holyfield. "Because you're looking beautiful right now."


At 62, Holyfield still looks like he can go a few rounds. He won the heavyweight title four times during his Hall of Fame career.


After Holyfield said thank you, O'Neal said, "I don't want you looking like your good friend Charles Barkley. Charles Barkley is the only guy taking a fat drug and getting fatter. "

The joke stems from Barkley recently saying he was trying to live a healthier lifestyle. He admitted to taking the weight-loss product Mounjaro, which is a competitor to the popular Ozempic.




"It's been great," Barkley during an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show. "I'm starting to feel like a human being not a fat-ass anymore,"

Moments as such are why we never hope the Barkley-O'Neal battle never ends.

Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Back In The Day Hoops On SI. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com

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Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel.  He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star.  TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com