Charles Barkley. Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Watch: Charles Barkley puts Stephen A. Smith on blast during TNT-ESPN crossover

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Grey Papke | Last updated 12/7/23

Thursday’s NBA in-season tournament semifinals gave ESPN and TNT the chance to do a little bit of collaborating, an opportunity Charles Barkley took full advantage of.

Each network is broadcasting one of Thursday’s semifinals in Las Vegas, and thus had all their top NBA personnel on site for the event. That meant both ESPN and TNT decided to have some fun with a crossover that saw both studio crews interact prior to the first game.

Barkley got the opportunity to roast ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith on a man-to-man basis in a hilarious interaction.

Chuck fires up the crossover by threatening Steven A Smith. We're off! pic.twitter.com/ciBsu1qJex

— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) December 7, 2023

“Let me tell you something, Stephen A.,” Barkley said. “If you come over here with all that louda-- talking tonight, this ain’t ‘First Take.’ This is going to be the first a-- whooping you take.”

Smith found the “threat” hilarious, and even Barkley was laughing after delivering the message.

Barkley does not seem to have any real beef with Smith, but he has made it clear in the past that he does not think much of ESPN as a whole. That is part of what made the interaction so fun.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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