‘Greedy pigs’ – Charles Barkley fires up NBA fans who have had enough as Shaq’s smashed wall is rumbled

Charles Barkley blasted the NFL for encroaching on the NBA’s long-standing hold on Christmas Day.

It is a day that has traditionally belonged to the NBA, not the NFL. But in recent years, Roger Goodell has played the role of the Grinch, pushing football further into a holiday once reserved for basketball.

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For decades, the NFL limited Christmas games to years when the holiday naturally fell within its regular schedule. That changed in 2020.

Since then, the league has made Christmas football an annual fixture, even pushing a standalone doubleheader last season when the holiday landed on a Wednesday.

Those games aired on Netflix, which is paying $150 million annually as part of a three-year agreement to broadcast two Christmas matchups.

The NBA Hall of Famer is not a fan of the NFL trying to steal the Christmas spotlight.

“The NFL got greedy and started adding Christmas games. We used to have this day to ourself but Roger Goodell and them pigs at the NFL always want to hog every day of the week now,” Barkely said on Inside the NBA.

“Christmas is an NBA day.”

The NBA’s Christmas Day tradition enters its 78th year this season, with the holiday slate once again featuring the league’s marquee teams and biggest stars, including LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Nikola Jokić, Victor Wembanyama, Anthony Edwards and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Meanwhile, a Christmas Day NFL lineup that looked promising before the season has since unraveled into a slate largely devoid of meaningful stakes.

The Cowboys and Commanders meet with both teams already eliminated from playoff contention, and Washington will be without starting quarterback Jayden Daniels, turning instead to third-stringer Josh Johnson.

Minnesota is also reaching deep into its depth chart, starting undrafted rookie Max Brosmer at quarterback against Detroit, while Kansas City, likewise eliminated, faces Denver with Chris Oladokun under center following Patrick Mahomes‘ season-ending injury.

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For Barkley and the rest of the Inside the NBA crew, they continue to do their part in helping the league maintain its grip on Christmas, doing so with their usual antics and chemistry.

Halftime of Christmas Day’s opening game between the New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers sparked chaos on the Inside the NBA set, when Shaquille O’Neal took a dramatic fall after racing Kenny Smith to the video board.

Smith and O’Neal have long shared playful banter on-air, but they took it up a notch on Christmas when Smith swiped the big man’s hat, sparking a race to the giant video board.

O’Neal sprinted up the stairs and barely tapped the board first, but barreled right through the screen and went down hard.

Smith, Ernie Johnson, and Barkley looked on in stunned disbelief, unable to hold back their laughter as the chaos played out.

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