Charles Barkley and Ernie Johnson traded savage zingers during Sunday’s coverage of the NCAA Tournament on CBS.
Barkley fired the first shot when the CBS crew was discussing Houston’s 69-50 win over Tennessee in the Elite 8. Johnson was the only member of the CBS panel who never played or coached basketball at a high level. At one point, Barkley told his longtime “Inside the NBA” colleague that he would ask Johnson for his opinion if the rest of the crew wanted to know what type of Gatorade Ernie used to bring to players during games.
As always, Johnson took it in stride. He told Barkley it was a “great shot.”
Charles Barkley smiles
Charles Barkley taking shots at Ernie 🤣
"I'm not going to ask you no basketball questions unless… what kinda Gatorade did you bring the players back in the day?" pic.twitter.com/ktC39PzAHB
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 30, 2025
Johnson filed the insult away and got even with Barkley in fairly short order. Later in the program, Kenny Smith shared a story about how Smith cut down the nets after winning two NBA championships with the Houston Rockets because he never had an opportunity to do so in college.
When Smith was done telling his story, Johnson threw a haymaker at Barkley.
“Do you have a similar story, Charles? No, you don’t,” Johnson said, referencing the fact that Barkley never won an NBA title.
ERNIE GOT CHUCK BACK 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/zyo5q0RPfi
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 30, 2025
Barkley had to have seen that coming, but the look of embarrassment on his face was priceless.
Shaquille O’Neal is usually the one who roasts Barkley over Chuck’s lack of a championship ring, but Shaq was the only regular member of the “Inside the NBA” crew who did not take part in NCAA Tournament coverage. Johnson was more than willing to fill Shaq’s massive shoes. Barkley messed with the bull and got the horns.