Inside the NBA was at its very best late on Wednesday night (or early Thursday morning). And it was all thanks to ridiculous cardboard cutouts of Charles Barkley as part of a weight loss promotion.
What you thought we were getting a breakdown of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s halfcourt defense?
The best Inside the NBA moments seem to come after midnight when most of the country has gone to bed after a full night of NBA action when all the analyzing is done and the show can cut loose and do almost anything. That includes a series of increasingly incredible Charles Barkley cutouts as part of a weight loss promotion with Ro. Barkley is teaming with the company to promote their GLP-1 treatments to lose weight.
As part of the discussion about his weight loss goals, crew members brought out some new and improved cardboard cutouts of what will hopefully be the former Round Mound of Rebound. And one by one they were punched over by Shaq, Kenny Smith, and even eventually Ernie Johnson. You know it’s hilarious even by Inside the NBA standards when you can actually hear the crew members laughing hysterically in the background.
If you’re trying to explain ‘Inside the NBA’ to somebody, just show them this clip. pic.twitter.com/Elx5sMArrD
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 8, 2025
That was far from the only physical comedy on Inside the NBA Thursday night, though. 16-time and reigning WWE champion John Cena showed up at the TNT studio which naturally inspired an impromptu wrestling match between Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley. Needless to say, it was about as pretty as watching “Adorable” Adrian Adonis vs Uncle Elmer at WrestleMania 2.
SHAQ & CHUCK WRESTLING MATCH 🚨
The Fellas felt inspired with John Cena in the building 😂 pic.twitter.com/Op64GpVzXq
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 7, 2025
Charles Barkley thinking that he had to get his leg up instead of his shoulder made it that much better.
Inside the NBA is counting down its final days on TNT before it makes the move to ESPN next season. And although everyone has professed that it’s going to be the exact same show, just on a network, we can only hope that ESPN lets the program go however long into the night it needs in order to get incredible television like this.
