There was good news and bad news after Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith unexpectedly raced to the video board Thursday night on Inside the NBA. Barkley won, narrowly beating his colleague up the steps. The good news? No one ended up injuring themselves. The bad news, at least for Smith, was that his colleagues had a field day roasting him for the loss as they watched a slow-motion replay.
Host Ernie Johnson mentioned Atlanta Hawks rookie Zaccharie Risacher, the No. 1 overall pick in 2024, prompting Barkley and Smith to leap from their seats and sprint to the video board. Johnson and Shaquille O’Neal reacted with excitement, exclaiming “Ohhhhhhhhh!” as Johnson high-fived Barkley and Shaq hugged him. “I can’t wait for that replay!” Johnson said. “Did you see that wobble from the Chuckster? That was awesome.”
Meanwhile, Smith caught his breath by the video board, acknowledging that it’s no longer 1985 or even 2005. At 61 and 59 years old, both Barkley and Smith showed their age during the sprint. “I couldn’t stop laughing,” Smith added. As promised, a replay of the race played, much to the delight of the audience. “That gets funnier every time we look at it,” Johnson remarked, while Barkley added, “Everybody loves seeing you lose, Kenny … You literally got your ass whooped.”
“That gets funnier every time we look at it.” – Ernie Johnson
“Hey, Kenny (Smith). You literally got your ass whooped.” – Charles Barkley #NBA https://t.co/avEwm3K0PR pic.twitter.com/xNSLPSmhzd
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 31, 2025
Smith offered an excuse, claiming, “First of all, my pants were going to fall down, they really were.” The replay paused at the moment when his shirt and jacket flew up, making his pants appear on the verge of failure. Smith had fared better in an earlier impromptu race against O’Neal in 2022, winning only because he shoved Shaq into a huge Christmas tree on set.
KENNY LAUNCHED SHAQ INTO THE TREE 🎄💀 pic.twitter.com/WBltT8jflx
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) December 7, 2022
“If there was a Christmas tree here, you’d have fallen right into it,” Smith quipped to Barkley on Thursday’s show.
