The L.A. Clippers and Houston Rockets had a showdown at the Staples Center on Monday night with both teams getting into one heated confrontation after another.
TNT’s Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal, however, found one particular altercation hilarious and proceeded to poke fun at the situation.
During an Inside the NBA segment, TNT’s courtside reporter was asked details about the Rockets seemingly entering the Clippers’ locker room. According to the report, Rockets players Chris Paul, James Harden, Gerald Green, and Trevor Ariza stormed the home team’s locker to confront guard Austin Rivers and Blake Griffin about an incident that happened during the game.
Because of this, members of the Los Angeles Police Department were contacted and brought in to keep players from taking matters into their own hands.
As the news was being reported, you could hear both Barkley and O’Neal giggling behind the scenes at the TNT studio. As it turns out, both were poking fun at the fact that the Clippers needed “police presence” to protect themselves from the Rockets players.
“I played in the NBA for 16 years,” said Barkley who was laughing uncontrollably, “…and I've been on TV for 18 years and this is the first time I've ever heard of a ‘police presence.’”
What the two found especially hilarious was the 6-foot-10 Griffin, “One of the most powerful players in the NBA,” as Barkley put it, would need the police to protect him from the 6-foot Paul.
“Hello, police?” quipped the 7-foot-1 O’Neal. “Chris Paul tried to beat me up.”
You can watch the hilarious clip below: