OG Anunoby joined the Inside the NBA crew before Game 4 of the Indiana Pacers-New York Knicks series on Tuesday night. Anunoby paused his usual pregame preparation to answer questions about how the Knicks came back to win Game 3 and maybe reveal some of the team’s plans for tonight's contest.
Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley and Shaquile O'Neal all participated in the interview, but none of them seemed to like it. Smith refused to ask a question and then asked his fellow former professional basketball players if they ever would have wanted to do an interview in a similar situation. The answer was a resounding no.
New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby was interviewed on TNT shortly before Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 28, 2025
After Kenny Smith opted against asking a question, Smith, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neal all said they wouldn't do a pregame interview like that as players. pic.twitter.com/oPaf2nspwz
"Well, OG, the last guy who came up here, Mitchell Robinson, went bananas when he came up here and spoke to us. Hopefully, it's happening, the same thing you and you know, get ready for the game. It's tough to ask questions at this time so I'm going to pass it on to Chuck."
Charles Barkley and Ernie Johnson then asked questions before sending him on his way.
Smith then asked Barkley if he would have ever done an interview right before the game which drew a "Hell no," from Barkley. After Johnson argued some guys want to do them, Smith asked O'Neal if he ever would have done one like that and he also said no.
The TNT crew should just be happy to know that the NBA and its broadcast partners found a worse, more pointless interview than the in-game coach's interviews.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘Inside the NBA’ Crew Agree TNT’s Playoff Pregame Interviews Shouldn’t Exist.
