What some people expect to be the most exciting series of the first round of the NBA playoffs got a little more interesting.
Minutes before tipoff, NBA Hall of Famers and NBA on TNT analysts Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal agreed to a $500,000 bet on the result of the first game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets.
Barkley has the Thunder. O’Neal has his money on the Rockets.
As the TNT discussion wound down with tipoff approaching, O’Neal only had 15 seconds left in the segment to predict which team he thinks will win.
Instead of trying to explain himself in that amount of time, he told Barkley to put the money from a different bet the two had made back on the table for Tuesday night.
Shaq and Chuck bet $500K on tonight’s Thunder/Rockets game pic.twitter.com/9f1jsB53Tx
— Logan Newman (@Logan_Newsman) August 18, 2020
“The money you owe me? Bet it back. On this game today,” O’Neal said to Barkley.
In the same segment, Barkley had said he thought the Thunder would win and Adams would be able to average 20 points and 20 rebounds a game against the small Rockets team.
Barkley excitedly agreed. One game, $500,000.
It’s a bet that Kevin Garnett and Adam Sandler would be proud of.
Game One of the Thunder vs. Rockets game is underway on Fox Sports Oklahoma and TNT.
