Charles Barkley Blatantly Calls Out Dwight Howard Live on TNT

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Paolo Songco | Last updated May 14, 2025 8:03 AM ET

Dwight Howard sat in for Shaquille O'Neal on TNT's broadcast of Tuesday's NBA playoffs games. O'Neal missed his second straight broadcast due to other work commitments, which is why the network tapped Howard to fill some of the void left by the Los Angeles Lakers legend.

It didn't take long for Howard to get acclimated to his co-hosts on the show. However, one particular backstage question from Howard caught Charles Barkley off guard, and the long-time TNT sportscaster just had to blatantly call Howard out for it on live TV.

"I got a problem with you, Dwight," Barkley said. "Guess what he asked me in the back? ... See, we got joked up. This dude asked me about Wilt Chamberlain. ... I said, 'Dude, how old do you think I am?'"

For the record, Barkley, 62, played in the NBA between 1984 and 2000. Chamberlain, on the other hand, retired in 1973, which was more than a decade before the Philadelphia 76ers drafted Barkley as the No. 5 overall pick in the 1984 NBA Draft.

Howard admitted his mistake and apologized to Barkley.

"I thought I asked the question," Howard responded, laughing. "I thought about it. I said, 'Chuck ain't that old.' ... That's my bad."

"How old does this dude think I am!?"

Chuck was shook by Dwight's question pic.twitter.com/gMjjYfP6pc
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 14, 2025

The crew ended up laughing about the entire situation, but there's no denying that Barkley appeared to be a little bit offended by Howard's blunder.

Barkley, however, graciously accepted Howard's apology, while also revealing that they were having a great conversation backstage before Howard asked about Chamberlain.

After that, Barkley decided to put his headphones on. "We're done talking for the night," said the former NBA MVP.

It appeared to be all in good fun, though, and it does not seem like there's any bad blood after Howard's honest mistake.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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