The “Inside the NBA” crew puts themselves in wacky situations on a weekly basis, but Wednesday night quickly went off the rails.
Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith raced each other during halftime of Miami Heat-New York Knicks Game 5, and Ernie Johnson snuck in a pocket square for Charles Barkley. But it wasn’t until the NBA night was nearing its end that O’Neal and Barkley stole headlines.
Anthony Davis left the fourth quarter of Game 5 of the Golden State Warriors-Los Angeles Lakers matchup due to a head injury he suffered while fighting for a rebound with Kevon Looney. The 30-year-old exited the contest in a wheelchair because he was feeling woozy, according to TNT’s Chris Haynes. The NBA insider added Davis avoided a concussion and reported Thursday morning the Lakers superstar is expected to play in Game 6 on Friday.
Johnson relayed the news of Davis exiting the game in a wheelchair on the TNT postgame show, and while Smith gave his analysis of the Warriors win over the Lakers, O’Neal and Barkley could not control their laughter, seemingly due to the report.
“These guys, man,” Smith said. “I know what they’re laughing at.”
“I’m laughing at Chuck,” O’Neal said.
“Shaq is over there crumbling up paper,” Barkley said. “That’s what I was laughing at.”
“Ernie, don’t let us go there,” Smith said. “It’ll never stop.”
Barkley wanted to move on, but Johnson attempted to keep the Basketball Hall of Famer on task to break down the game. The NBA analyst burst into laughter, again, after seeing what appeared to be Smith pantomiming a wheelchair motion, which Barkley did himself after Smith claimed he was “fixing his chair.”
Johnson and Smith tried to straighten out O’Neal and Barkley for allegedly laughing at Davis for leaving the game in a wheelchair since the situation could have been more serious. But perhaps due to Davis playing in the next game for the Lakers, NBA Twitter felt it was fine to laugh along with the Hall of Famers and their silly shenanigans.
