Shaquille O’Neal is easily one of the greatest basketball players to ever set foot on a court, and he’s also arguably one of the most outspoken athletes the world has ever seen. The player-turned-media personality rarely ever holds back his thoughts on a subject, and that’s particularly true when it comes to rumors. One particular claim that’s apparently been floating around as of late is that O’Neal banned The View’s Joy Behar from one of the eateries he owns. So, when the Diesel himself appeared on the talk show, he didn’t hold back, even humorously calling out friend and colleague Charles Barkley on air.
The 52-year-old four-time NBA appeared on the long-running talk show just recently to promote his new ABC game show, Lucky 13. Before he and the panel of pundits got down to the nitty gritty though, 81-year-old Joy Behar wanted to discuss the rumor that she’d been kicked out of one of Shaq’s Big Chicken restaurants. The former Los Angeles Laker quickly make a blunt – but humorous – declaration before Behar could get into her spiel:
I heard that. Charles Barkley, I know you started that, and I hate you. Joy, I want to say I would never kick you out a restaurant. I love you. Charles Barkley started that, and Charles, we hate you.
Jokes like that aside though, the Steel star has proven to be a generous person. 2022 alone saw Shaq pay the bill for an entire restaurant and donate money towards the victims of the shooting at Tops Friendly Markets. Keeping in that spirit of generosity, the Big Shamrock presented Joy Behar with a lifetime pass to his Big Chicken restaurant chain. You can check out the sweet moment in the video down below:
The pair’s exchange would certainly seem to indicate that this whole situation is simply water under the bridge at this point as far as Shaquille O’Neal and Joy Behar are concerned. Though O’Neal may or may not still have a bone to pick with Charles Barkley, though. Considering Barkley’s personality, I’m sure he’d be hilariously unbothered by that. If anything, O’Neal’s recent call-out makes me pine for new episodes of Inside the NBA, which may be cancelled after this upcoming season. Like so many others, I’m hoping that’s not the case, but only time will tell. (In the meantime, I'd expect fans to keep posting funny clips of Barkley and Shaq from past episodes as a way of rallying behind the series.)
At present, it’s just sweet that Joy Behar and Shaq cleared up the confusion regarding that rumor. If I were Joy Behar, I’d definitely make good use of that pass. The Big Chicken menu has some delicious-looking entrees so, needless to say, Behar is quite lucky to have that card.
You can check out The View, which airs weekly Monday through Friday at 11 a.m. ET on ABC. Also, Shaq’s Lucky 13 airs on the same network on Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET as part of the 2024 TV schedule.
