On Tuesday night, Charles Barkley was in the middle of a benign segment previewing Tuesday’s night contest between the Dallas Mavericks and the Minnesota Timberwolves when he suddenly found himself engulfed in smoke.
Barkley was analyzing Minnesota’s major offseason trade with the New York Knicks, in which the team swapped longtime stalwart Karl Anthony-Towns for Donte DiVincenzo and Julius Randle. “I thought the trade was a win-win,” Barkley said before smoke suddenly appeared on the set. Smoke machine going a little haywire over there, Chuckster,” host Ernie Johnson said.
Barkley tried continuing his segment before furiously coughing. “I thought Snoop was in the house,” Kenny Smith joked. “I thought Shaq had opened a new hookah bar,” Johnson chimed in as smoke clouded over the Halloween-themed TNT studio.
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“Yall tryna kill me, man,” an exasperated Barkley said. “Ive already dodged some bullets literally today, now yall got me out here and I cant even breathe.”
Remarkably, the former 11-time NBA All-Star professionally managed to maintain his composure and continued the segment. “I think the trade is gonna work out fine for both teams,” Barkley said.
Smith eventually grew suspicious of who was behind the smoke machine bit. “You know what…thats that dude over there,” he sai, pointingd across the table to a silent Shaquille O’Neal.
Johnson concurred: “That has Shaqs fingerprints all over it,” he said. O’Neal, sitting next to Johnson, calmly proceeded to stick his hands in the air.
“Hey Ernie, my hands have been here the whole time,” O’Neal claimed, fooling no one. Inside the TNT is famed for crewmembers pranking each other over the years.
The Timberwolves have won two of their first three games following their major offseason trade. Randle ranks second on the team in scoring with a 24.7 clip per contest on 62.8% shooting.
Anthony Edwards was the early star of the show on Tuesday night against the Mavericks. The former first-overall pick poured in an impressive 24 first-quarter points to give Minnesota the early lead.
The outlook for Anthony Towns in New York hasn’t quite been as rosy. The four-time All-Star is averaging just 15.3 points through three games, a figure that would be the lowest of his career.
The two sides will first face off in the regular season on December 19 in Minnesota. Their preseason affair got chippy, as DiVincenzo had words for Knicks coach Tom Thibadeau.
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