With Shaquille O’Neal fully committed to his “Shaq Hyman” bit, it was only a matter of time before he got his longtime colleague Charles Barkley to jump aboard the Edmonton Oilers bandwagon.
During Sunday’s NBA on TNT broadcast, the basketball analyst, who supported the Toronto Maple Leafs earlier in the postseason, was talking hockey when an unexpected gift arrived.
“Oh my goodness! Leon Draisaitl, thank you,” the 61-year-old exclaimed upon receiving an Oilers jersey signed by alternate captain Leon Draisaitl.
Charles Barkley was stoked to receive a signed jersey from Leon Draisaitl! @EdmontonOilers pic.twitter.com/q59EXpDBXP
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 27, 2024
Barkley then took the opportunity to let his fellow panel members, and Draiasaitl, know that he predicted the Oilers winning the Stanley Cup in his bracket before the NHL postseason kicked off back in April.
“Hey Leon, I don’t know if you saw my brackets. I got y’all winning the Stanley Cup,” he said
Shaq, who was recently gifted a personalized stick and jersey from Oilers forward Zack Hyman, asked Barkley if he could look at the jersey, a request the former NBA star quickly declined.
“I’m not letting you touch my jersey,” said Barkley, who faced O’Neal a total of 19 times in his NBA playing days. “No, no, no.”
So, what did Draisaitl’s personalized autograph say exactly?
Well, according to an X post from Jackie Redmond of the NHL Network, Draisaitl wrote “Tell Shaq to keep his cash,” referencing O’Neal’s promise to pay the Oilers if they refused to send his frenemy a jersey.
I saw this jersey after Leon signed it for the crew…
Leon wrote “tell Shaq to keep his cash”
because when Shaq got the Hyman jersey, Barkley said he wanted a Draisaitl jersey & Shaq said he would PAY the Oilers NOT to send Chuck a jersey. 😂#NHLonTNT #LetsGoOilers https://t.co/pbRJxabmh0— Jackie Redmond (@Jackie_Redmond) May 27, 2024
With two new superfans backing them, the Oilers will play their first home game of the series tonight when they take on the Dallas Stars in Game 3.
Puck drop is set for 6:30 pm MT.
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