Magic forward Paolo Banchero was named the NBA’s Rookie of the Year for the 2022-23 NBA season Tuesday evening. Moments after the announcement was made, Banchero sat down for a live interview with Charles Barkley on TNT.
After congratulating Banchero on his achievement, Barkley couldn’t help but take a hilarious jab at fellow Inside the NBA analyst Shaquille O’Neal.
Barkley ran Banchero through a bit of Orlando basketball history, informing the 20-year-old that he was already the second best big man in franchise history, behind only Dwight Howard.
“Congratulations on a fantastic rookie season. I mean, other than Dwight Howard, you’re another great Orlando big man. Not many great big men in Orlando. You’re second already behind Dwight,” Barkley said, intentionally omitting O’Neal from his list of great Magic bigs.
"Other than Dwight Howard, you're another great Orlando [Magic] big man. Not many great men in Orlando. You're second already behind Dwight."
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) April 25, 2023
Charles Barkley to Paolo Banchero 😂pic.twitter.com/Z91xfXk1mX
O’Neal, a fellow Rookie of the Year winner, was selected by the Magic with the No. 1 pick in the 1992 NBA draft. Shaq spent four seasons in Orlando, making four All-Star Games, before joining the Lakers in 1996.
Despite his prolific tenure with the franchise, Barkley hilariously opted to overlook O’Neal when discussing the franchise’s greatest post players.
The trolling didn’t end there, however.
During the interview, Banchero was shown side-by-side photos of the two previous Magic Rookie of the Year winners: Shaq (1992-93) and Mike Miller (2000-01). Barkley wasted no time taking another jab at O’Neal.
Chuck: "Man what happened to you? You used to be skinny."
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) April 25, 2023
Shaq: "I'm skinnier than you, that's all I need to be."
Charles Barkley is on a roll tonight😂pic.twitter.com/ndl2qYdv4j
“Man what happened to you? You used to be skinny,” Barkley said to O’Neal, who responded by saying, “I’m skinnier than you. That’s all I need to be.”
