The 2026-27 NBA season tipped off this week, and while Shaquille O’Neal refuses to believe it, it may or may not be the final season for Charles Barkley and Ernie Johnson on Inside the NBA.
If it is the end, and if the first few days are any indication, Barkley is going out with a bang. On Wednesday, Barkley roasted O’Neal over his connection to FBI director Kash Patel, then followed up with an epic performance on the show’s classic “Who He Play For?” segment.
The fear in Chuck’s eyes when Shaq said run it back
https://t.co/aKizd0CZOZ
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) October 23, 2026
Barkley started by falsely guessing that Moe Wagner plays for the Charlotte Hornets. Once Johnson told him Wagner plays for the Brooklyn Nets, Barkley quipped, “Why would I watch Brooklyn play basketball?”
Johnson served up Chicago Bulls guard Buddy Hield next, but Barkley guessed the Milwaukee Bucks. “Oh, right division, wrong team,” Johnson said in the tenor of a disappointed father. “I’m not feeling good because you gotta get three in a row now, man.”
Narrator: Charles Barkley did not guess the next three in a row correctly.
Barkley placed Detroit Pistons forward Taurean Prince on the Memphis Grizzlies, though he did prove he isn’t totally out to lunch by correcting Kenny Smith on what time the Pistons opened their season against the Boston Celtics on Tuesday. “That game was at 3 o’clock in the afternoon! I was on the golf course,” Barkley said.
Barkley whiffed on Utah Jazz center Mo Bamba and Atlanta Hawks guard Aaron Wiggins, but he saved some face by at least correctly guessing that “Who He Play For?” Hall of Famer Garrett Temple is no longer an NBA player. Well, sort of. Barkley knew Temple is a coach now, but he thought it was for the Phoenix Suns, not the Dallas Mavericks.
“Ernie, hold on. I think the game is unfair to do it this early,” Barkley said in his own defense. “‘Cause I haven’t seen any of these teams. We’ve only played three nights!”
Then, O’Neal did something truly diabolical.
“Kenny, if we replay the game right now, how many will he get?” O’Neal said.
Barkley called his shot, saying he could get four out of five correct the second time around, and the Inside the NBA crew called his bluff. For the first time in “Who He Play For?” history, Barkley got a redo.
Barkley got two correct, and it was somehow even funnier than his initial 0-for-5. Johnson, O’Neal, and Smith lost it at the desk, and Barkley couldn’t help but laugh at himself.
Johnson lovingly called Barkley a “knucklehead,” declared it the greatest edition of “Who He Play For?” of all time, and ran it back for a third time. Don’t worry. Barkley still couldn’t remember all five.
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