Inside the NBA

Ernie Johnson… Alex Moffat

Kenny Smith… Chris Redd

Charles Barkley… Kenan Thompson

Shaquille O’Neal… Kevin Hart

[Starts with Inside The NBA intro]

[Cut to the show set]

Ernie: Hey, welcome back to Inside The NBA. I’m Ernie Johnson. That’s Kenny the Jet Smith and Charles Barkley.

Charles: Hey, there.

Kenny: What’s up?

Ernie: And on my right is Shaquille O’Neal.

Shaq: Happy holidays and Merry Christmas. Very merry. If you’re Jewish, happy home manukkah.

Ernie: Thank you, Shaq. Um, we also want to welcome back Charles who spent the past few days in his home state of Alabama campaign for Doug Jones. I’m sure you’re happy, Charles.

Charles: Oh, man, I am, Ernie. First of all, I’m happy for Alabama. I’m happy for the country. And I’d be personally happy if I hadn’t bet $100,000 on Roy Moore.

Kenny: Wait, you bet on Roy Moore?

Charles: I couldn’t help it, man. I thought he was a lock. I’m from Alabama. That’s not the most progressive place. I mean a lot of folks down there think that Ellen DeGeneres is going through a phase. I mean, Roy Moore rode a horse to the polls.

Shaq: Hah! Ay, Shaq can’t ride no horse. Feet don’t touch the ground. But you can’t be the dead horse because dead horse tell no tales. Coz they’re horses. We lost their tails.

[Shaq looks around. Everybody is confused of what he just said.]

Charles: Shaq, you gotta get it together, man. I think you’re the only basketball player whose brain has aged like a football player. Let’s just say congratulations to Doug Jones.

Kenny: It’s amazing that the underdog won.

Shaq: Yeah. Well, let me say something. Every dog has it’s day. But it was night time. No time for dogs. Dogs are asleep, so it’s cat time. Cats come out at night. Freaks come out at night. Shaq a freak!

[Shaq looks around. Everybody is confused of what he just said.]

Charles: Shaq, what the hell are you saying, man? We talking about the senate election.

Shaq: Ho-ho. Hey, I love the send-it (senate). I write an email, hit the send button, boom. Send it (senate).

Charles: Oh, damn, Shaq. It’s like a whole bunch of words got jumbled up in your brain and a fire marshall said, “Everybody out!”

Shaq: Hey, you shut your mouth, Charles. Don’t make me come over there and do something Shaq for you ass. Ya-ha-haa.

Ernie: Okie, dokie. Um, let’s just move on to tonight’s games. First up, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavs are taking on the LA Lakers.

Kenny: Expect a big game from LeBron having another NVP. He’s just on an entirely different playing field this season.

Shaq: No, no, no. No. That’s ridiculous Kenny. LeBron is not on his field. He’s on a court, dummy. You dumb. A court is in session. Alright. The honorable Shaq and Shaq don’t crack. Haaa.

Charles: Damn, Shaq. I can hear your tiny brain rattling around your skull like a little bean in a maraca.

Ernie: Oh, alright. Alright. Let’s all try to get along for once?

Shaq: Yeah. That’s right. Coz when you get along, you go along. And when you go along, you tag along. And Shaq loves Tag alongs. Best girls got cookies. Tag alongs. It is the Shaq of cookies. Haaa.

Charles: Shaq, that didn’t make a lick of sense. How do you even do endorsements? Do they just put a pack of ice in your hand and then sprayed peanut butter on the roof of your mouth and dropped over the words later.

Shaq: Okay. That’s it. It’s go time. [Shaq stands, he is very tall] Let’s go, Chuck. Throw me the ball.  [someone throws a basketball to Shaq.] Haa, yeah. Me and you, Charles.

Charles: Okay.

Shaq: Let’s go.

Charles: Come on, man. We are getting too old for this.

Ernie: Guys, guys, we are paid to come to work and talk bout basketball.

Shaq: No. No. No. I’m about to get you barbecued chicken. It’s duckets coz you shaqed in a fool. Let’s go, Chuck.

Charles: Man, look at you. Tall body with little arms. You look like the letter ‘F’ came to life.

Ernie: Okay. Hey, we’ll be right back where maybe, we’ll even talk a little basketball.

Charles: $1,000 says we won’t.

Weekend Update Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal

Charles Barkley… Kenan Thompson

Shaquille O’Neal… Jay Pharoah

Michael Che

[Starts with Michael Che in his set]

Michael Che: It was a historic week in NBA. The Golden State Warriors set a record with 73 wins. Kobe Bryant retired after 20 seasons. And the NBA playoff started today. Here to give their takes are Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal.

[1 and Shaquille O’Neal slide in]

Charles Barkley: How are you doing, Michael? Wow, big year for the NBA.

Shaquille O’Neal: Shaq like beard. Real beard. Big more than little.

Michael Che: Okay, so Kobe Bryant had an incredible last game. He’s 37 years old and scored 60 points.

Charles Barkley: Yeah. But it took 50 shots. [Cut to 1 and Shaquille O’Neal] That’s like putting a chip on every single number in a roulette board. You’re bound to win once, unless you’re me, and you bet it all on number twe-ive.

[Cut to Michael Che, 1 and Shaquille O’Neal]

Michael Che: Twe-ive? That’s not a number.

Charles Barkley: Oh, man. [Cut to 1 and Shaquille O’Neal] Too bad you don’t work at the counter.

Shaquille O’Neal: Shaq will still play. Shaq can win a championship. With Kobe.

Charles Barkley: No, you could not, Shaq. Look at you. It’s like you’re having a staring contest with yourself. [pulling three fingers out] How many fingers am I holding out?

Shaquille O’Neal: 44.

Charles Barkley: Damn. There must have been a gas leak in your home for the past 10 years.

[Cut to Michael Che, 1 and Shaquille O’Neal]

Michael Che: Now, what do you think Kobe is gonna do now?

Charles Barkley: Oh, there’s lots of things a retired player can do. [Cut to 1 and Shaquille O’Neal] You can do commercials. Like, Shaq is a spokesman for ‘I say hot’.

Shaquille O’Neal: Hmm, it’s delicious. I put it on Texas toast. Toast is warm and cool at the same time.

Charles Barkley: Dammit Shaq! I think blood tried to flow all the way up to your brain but then gets too tired, just hangs out on your shoulders as say, “We’ll try again tomorrow.”

[Cut to Michael Che, 1 and Shaquille O’Neal]

Look Michael, you gotta be careful with your money after you retire. Last week, I bet somebody a $100,000 that I could eat 10 hamburgers and I couldn’t do it.

Michael Che: Why would you even think you could do that?

Charles Barkley: Because few minutes before I made that bet, I ate 10 hamburgers.

[Cut to 1 and Shaquille O’Neal]

Shaquille O’Neal: Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha.

Charles Barkley: What you laughing at?

Shaquille O’Neal: Because I got a joke. Listen. A horse walked into a bar.

[silence]

Charles Barkley: Then what?

Shaquille O’Neal: It’s funny. A horse shouldn’t be in a bar. it don’t have no ID.

Charles Barkley: Why couldn’t I have picked Michael Jordan to be my life companion? Put yourself together, Shaq. You got twe-ive kids.

[Cut to Michael Che, 1 and Shaquille O’Neal]

Michael Che: Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal, everybody.

Charles Barkley: Anybody wants 10 hamburgers?

Weekend Update Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal

Michael Che

Charles Barkley… Kenan Thompson

Shaquille O’Neal… Jay Pharoah

[Starts with Michael Che in his set]

Michael Che: Tyler’s not real. The first round of the NBA playoffs is now over with the LA Clippers beating the San Antonio Spurs. Here to give their takes are two greats from inside NBA, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal.

[Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal slide in]

[cheers and applause]

Charles Barkley: Alright! Hey, how y’all doing?

Shaquille O’Neal: Shaq in the house!

Michael Che: Now, before we start congratulations, Shaq, you just got your own show called, and this is not a joke, “Shaqtin’ a Fool”.

[Cut to Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal]

Shaquille O’Neal: That’s right. Shaq will be on TV. First time ever.

Charles Barkley: What? Shaq, you’re on TV right now. Oh, man! Shaq’s brain has gotten smaller because it needs to make more room for food. He’s up to here with potatoes.

Shaquille O’Neal: Oh, you just grumping.

Charles Barkley: I know. I bet a lot of money on Manny Pacquiao.

[Cut to Michael Che, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal]

Michael Che: Well, that’s not a bad bet.

Charles Barkley: Yeah, but I bet on him to win Kentucky Derby. They said he was fast.

Michael Che: Alright, let’s just talk about the playoff. LeBron James and the Cavaliers are the favorites in the east, but they just lost Kevin Love who got his arm literally torn out of the socket on the court. I mean, it’s scary out there.

[Cut to Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal]

Shaquille O’Neal: Shaq’s never scared. Like Ray Parker Jr. I ain’t afraid of no goat.

Charles Barkley: Goat? It’s ghosts!

Shaquille O’Neal: Where? Where? Where the ghosts at?

Charles Barkley: The point is– no there’s no ghost over there. There’s a point here– And it is that the NBA is way less violent than it was 20 years ago. Man, when I was on the court, I got hit all the time. And once off the court, when I was dating Rosie, she gave me something called a Puerto Rican hicky.

[Cut to Michael Che, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal]

Michael Che: What’s a Puerto Rican hicky?

Charles Barkley: It’s when a girl that you’re seeing runs up to you and punches you in the neck.

Shaquille O’Neal: Shaq loves necks. Necks are good. Necks hold up your head.

[Cut to Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal]

Charles Barkley: Oh, dammit, Shaq. I gave you power of attorney. If I die, you get my kids.

Michael Che: Oh, no!

Charles Barkley: Michael!

Michael Che: Yeah!

Charles Barkley: These players today are so soft man. Have you seen the way they dress? Russell Westbrook with those crazy paddle shirts looks like magic eye poster. If you stare long enough, you’ll see a sail boat.

Shaquille O’Neal: I see it right away.

Charles Barkley: Yeah, I know. You see it. Of course you do. Your eyes are trying to french kiss each other. If these people wanna know how to dress, they should talk to me.

Shaquille O’Neal: Why you? You look like somebody put a jacket on a Cadbury.

[Shaquille O’Neal leans towards the table]

Charles Barkley: Oh, my god! He formed a full sentence and now he’s tipping over. Good lord. Somebody get the man.

[Cut to Michael Che, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal]

Michael Che: Maybe we should go. Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal everyone! For Weekend Update, I’m Michael Che.

Colin Jost: I’m Colin Jost. Goodnight.