One of the great traditions of Inside the NBA is the game show “Who He Play For?” where Charles Barkley tries to guess which team NBA journeymen are currently playing in their nomadic careers.
After Game 2 of the NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals at Madison Square Garden, Ernie Johnson passed the baton to Barkley so he could host a hockey version of the beloved game called “Who He Skate For?”
Given Barkley is a huge hockey fan, this had the potential to be a moment where he could finally get one over on the rest of his castmates.
However, what happened was the kind of hilarious trainwreck television that has made Inside the NBA one of the most beloved shows in sports. Barkley botched the hosting gig by giving away multiple answers as the segment quickly went off the rails.
View on Threads
There’s a lot to get to in this clip, but let’s start with Shaquille O’Neal constantly belittling Charles Barkley and his “Auburn education” as he fumbled through trying to host the game show without giving away all the answers. The best non-response came when the San Jose Sharks logo popped up on the screen and Kenny Smith blurted out “Tampa Bay Sharks.”
But for everyone hoping this would turn into a Tennessee Titans schedule release video, you were probably disappointed in how accurate the Inside the NBA cast was. Ernie Johnson even nailed the Utah Mammoth logo which is brand new as of just a few weeks ago. At least it’s good to know that “Who He Play For?” favorite Garrett Temple still has a home in the NBA with the Toronto Raptors, even if Barkley had to cheat to know that was true.
If Charles Barkley really wanted to have fun, he could have thrown up the awesome logo of the Landsberg Riverkings from Germany’s minor leagues for his own version of the Guangdong Tigers.