Basketball Hall of Famer and NBA on TNT analyst Charles Barkley has reportedly been frustrated with the Houston Rockets for years, dating back to when he believes he was underpaid late in his playing career.
On Tuesday, the Rockets added another $500,000 to his tab, courtesy of Houston’s dominant 123-108 victory in Game 1. This time, there’s no debate: The financial loss was entirely self-inflicted by Barkley.
On TNT’s pregame show just before tip-off, fellow Hall of Famer and TV analyst Shaquille O’Neal had 15 seconds left in the segment to predict which team he believed would win. But instead of directly making a prediction, Shaq called out Barkley on live television.
“The money you owe me? Bet it back. On this game today,” O’Neal told Barkley, who excitedly agreed to the bet and said he was taking OKC.
Shaq really trying to bet $500K with Chuck on Rockets-Thunder 😂 pic.twitter.com/LSlOcUgYtg
— br_betting (@br_betting) August 18, 2020
Earlier in the segment, Barkley had said he thought the Thunder would win, and that Steven Adams would be able to average 20 points and 20 rebounds per game against the undersized Rockets.
Instead, led by 37 points and 11 rebounds from All-Star guard and MVP finalist James Harden, it was O’Neal and the Rockets who won big. The Thunder never came within single digits in the game’s final 35 minutes.
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Thursday’s Game 2 and Saturday’s Game 3 are both on ESPN, so it may take until next Monday’s Game 4 (on TNT) before O’Neal and Barkley consider any further wagers involving the Rockets and Thunder.
For now, Shaq has the last word and a growing IOU from Chuck.
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