Charles Barkley Channels Inner Shannon Sharpe, Calls Kenny Smith ‘Skip’ For Interrupting Him During NCAA Tournament Halftime Show

In the sports-talk and debate world, there are many arguments that are never settled. But one thing is for sure: Charles Barkley is the best. And Sunday, he took a shot at one of the men who helped invent the sports debate show: Skip Bayless.

Bayless is famous for talking over his co-hosts to make a point. It’s the same thing Stephen A. Smith does. That’s no surprise, since that pair arguably invented the sports TV debate format.

Shannon Sharpe is the frequent recipient of Skip Bayless interrupting and talking over him. That came to a head after the Damar Hamlin situation and subsequent Bayless tweet.

Sharpe lost it over Bayless not allowing him to finish his monologue and let Bayless know.

Unc Shannon sharpe was explaining why he wasn’t on undisputed yesterday & this man Skip bayless gonna interrupt him when Shannon tells him to take down the tweet of damar Hamlin 🤦🏾‍♂️🤦🏾‍♂️🤦🏾‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/hQQK0njiQZ

— Shannonnn sharpes Burner (PARODY Account) (@shannonsharpeee) January 4, 2023

Charles Barkley being … well, Charles Barkley … wasn’t about to let that go. The very next day, he went on Inside The NBA and made several references to then exchange. And, to be fair, it was pretty funny.

Here's a compilation of Barkley trolling Skip Bayless last night on Inside the NBA pic.twitter.com/uRUR6laK8y

— Brandon Contes (@BrandonContes) January 6, 2023

Charles Barkley channels his inner Shannon Sharpe, again

Sir Charles has not forgotten about that exchange and during the halftime show of the Elite Eight matchup between Creighton and San Diego State, Barkley went back to the bag of tricks.

CBS showed a pre-taped package of Texas guard Tyrese Hunter quickly answering questions about himself. The segment’s name is “20-second drill” as that’s as long as Hunter had to answer the questions.

Coming out of the package, Barkley relates to Hunter and explains he’s “been on a couple games shows, and … didn’t do very well.”

Kenny Smith interjects, asking Barkley to perform the same task Hunter was asked to complete: talk about himself for 20 seconds.

Charles Barkley snaps back, “Stop interrupting me, Skip.”

“Stop interrupting me, Skip.”

Charles Barkley takes shot at Kenny Smith by referring to him as “Skip” — a clear reference to @RealSkipBayless. pic.twitter.com/tE76k7t5i1

— Dan Zaksheske (@OutkickDanZ) March 26, 2023

This is objectively funny. And Charles Barkley remains undefeated. Never change, Chuck.

But Kenny Smith might want to consider some changes. I don’t think being called “Skip” was intended as a compliment.