Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal got into it Tuesday over O’Neal calling himself a “doctor” after receiving honorary doctorate degrees.
On Tuesday’s episode of Inside the NBA, host Ernie Johnson had the producers play a clip from his and Barkley’s podcast The Steam Room. In the clip, Johnson asked Barkley if he could beat O’Neal in a spelling bee, noting that O’Neal had “several doctorates.” Barkley took exception to that.
“See, there you go again,” Barkley said. “First of all, those are honorary. Those are honorary. They don’t count. All you gotta do is get somebody money. They’ll give you an honorary doctorate.”
After the clip ended, O’Neal shot back, “nothing I do is honorary.”
“That’s like saying my four championships are honorary,” he added.
Barkley argued it wasn’t the same thing as the two went back and forth.
BARKLEY: You didn’t graduate from them places!O’NEAL: Yes, I did!BARKLEY: You’re not a doctor!O’NEAL: Yes, I am!BARKLEY: Nobody’s gonna let you operate on them!O’NEAL: Not that type of doctor, dummy.
Kenny Smith then cut in to ask O’Neal if he actually attended classes to earn his doctorate. When O’Neal said he was, Barkley immediately voiced his
“I’m in school now, fool!” O’Neal said. “I’m getting a masters of liberal arts… In three years from now, I will be a world-renowned sports psychologist.”
Barkley still wasn’t buying it.
“Three years?” he said. “You’ve been in college for 30 years! When are you gonna graduate?”
Watch above via TNT.