Back In The Day NBA

TNT Crew Roasts Charles Barkley Over "Madea" Glasses

Shandel Richardson

Jun 12, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; NBA TV analyst Charles Barkley talks on set before game three of the 2024 NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
Jun 12, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; NBA TV analyst Charles Barkley talks on set before game three of the 2024 NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Even though this is the final year together, the Inside The NBA crew remains among the funniest on television.

The addition of Jalen Rose just adds to the humor. On Tuesday, Rose was the first to crack on Charles Barkley's reading glasses. While Barkley was breaking down the Western Conference, Rose interrupted.

"Are them welding glasses," Rose asked. "Looking like Madea."

Madea is a reference to a character actor Tyler Perry played in several movies. She wore thick glass with big rims. Rose's comment immediately started an avalanche of jokes about Barkley.

It prompted Shaquille O'Neal to chime in, "looking like Fred G Sanford. What am I eating tomorrow for Thanksgiving with them futuristic ass glasses."

Barkley was referring to the role comedian Redd Foxx played on the 1970s series Sanford And Son. They later did a side by side of Barkley and Foxx's character named "Blind Benny" from the movie Harlem Nights. Benny work thick glasses, too.

If that wasn't enough, even Erin Johnson piled on Barkley. He took it back to when kids used to kill insects with a magnifying glass.

"On those sunny days in Phoenix, you can see Chuck burning up those ant hills," Johnson said.

Moments as such are why this show will be missed. The crew makes watching highlights and analysis much more entertaining. Here's hoping they find a way to produce the same laughs when the show moves to ESPN and ABC next season.

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