One reason TNT's "Inside the NBA" is the gold standard for studio shows is they keep it real — even if it means offending the tender egos of millionaire NBA superstars.
The "Inside the NBA" crew enjoyed a huge belly-laugh over news that Chris Paul, James Harden, Trevor Ariza and Gerald Green of the Rockets breached the Clippers' locker room through a back tunnel to confront Blake Griffin and Austin Rivers of the Clippers at Staples Center on Monday night.
"Inside the NBA" analysts Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neal, in particular, cracked up over reports the Los Angeles Police Department was called to separate the combatants.
"I played in the NBA for 16 years. I've been on TV for 18 years. This is the first time I heard of a 'police presence," a laughing Barkley said. "They got a police presence? Are you kidding me? C’mon, man."
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"The Diesel" was laughing so hard he threw his script in the air. The duo took comedic turns imagining what a 911 call to the cops from a worried LA locker room would have sounded like as the Rockets laid siege.
Barkley joked sotto voce about the 6-0, 175-pound CP3 going after the hulking Griffin: "I’m 6-10, 225 (pounds), one of the most powerful players in the NBA. But Chris Paul's trying to get in and kick my ass. Get down here quick!"
Take a look:
The truth is almost all NBA players are too smart, and paid way too much money, to risk their livelihoods by getting into real fights with opponents. If they do lose it occasionally, one look at the Rudy Tomjanovich-Kermit Washington incident from 1977 should convince them they shouldn't throw punches.
During an appearance on ESPN's "SportsCenter" on Tuesday morning, reporter Adrian Wojnarowski confirmed the Rockets did invade the Clippers' locker room. But when the stunned Clippers rose to their feet to confront the Rockets, neither side made a move.
Security separated the trash-talking players. The LAPD hung around the hallway to make sure nothing else happened.
"One witness told me this was a classic NBA nobody was going to fight," Wojnarowski said. "The Rockets wanted to be heard, they wanted to be seen when they got in there. They probably didn’t go in there looking for a real fight."
