Shaquille O'Neal "inadvertently" took TNT's "Inside the NBA" to new depths on Thursday night. "New depths" meaning eighth-grade boys locker room humor.
Extramustard.si.com was one of several media outlets to post Shaquille O'Neal's comments to Charles Barkley when they were discussing whether they approached officials before the game to talk about an opposing player or asking for a clarification of a rule.
Barkley started talking about his role as captain requiring him to approach officials, when Shaq interjected, "You used to kiss up to him."
Barkley, trying to get his point across, retorted, "No, I didn't." That's when Shaq fired his inadvertent - or at least, supposedly inadvertent one-liner: "You kissed Dick in the mouth," referring to referee Dick Bavetta.
Barkley hesitated, and began to laugh, and Kenny "the Jet" Smith wisely interjected, "Dick Bavetta?"
But by then, the joke was out and the commentary went awry for about 18 seconds. During the conversation breakdown, Barkley blurted out, "That didn't sound good," to which O'Neal replied, "It sure didn't, but it's 2 o'clock (in the morning, Eastern Time)."
Which is probably why TNT not only let the cameras keep rolling but also has not commented on the matter publicly.
O'Neal already was the subject of an incident last month at TNT, in which a TNT employee filed a police report, accusing Shaq of tackling him to the ground, causing injury when they were both at work at Turner Studios.
Nothing came of the report. Apparently, nothing will come of Thursday night's conversation, either.
When "Inside the NBA" came back from a commercial break, Smith could be heard saying, "I hope I've got a job when we get back," according to newsfine.com.
Do you like the freedom the TNT basketball analysts have, which produced nuggets like Thursday night's conversation, or would you rather see a tighter control with more serious analysis? Comment below or tell us @SportsWN (video of Barkley's kiss of Bavetta at the end of the video above).
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