NBA Hall-of-Famers Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley diverged from the game they called Christmas night to discuss the recent Republican tax overhaul and what they would do with their sizable tax breaks.
Barkley joked with the other announcers during Monday night's game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Los Angeles Lakers about President Donald Trump's boast about protecting the phrase "Merry Christmas" before training his sights on the recent tax law Trump signed.
"At least we got our tax break," Barkley said, leading to fellow announcer Ernie Johnson to beg him to not "go down that road again." Barkley made a scathing remark last week on the air about buying a Rolex with his tax cut.
Democrats have criticized the bill as favoring the wealthy and corporations at the expense of the middle class, although the vast majority of middle-class earners will see their taxes decrease as a result of the bill. Barkley has dabbled in politics, recently campaigning for Democrat Doug Jones in his successful campaign for Senate in Alabama.
"I just want all these poor people to keep waiting for this 'trickle down.' They've been waiting for like 400 years. It ain't trickled down yet," Barkley said.
All the while, the game between Minnesota and Los Angeles continued, and Johnson gamely tried to call the action.
"You like that tax break, Chuck?" O'Neal asked.
"Yeah, I don't like it for poor people," Barkley said. "Rich people should not get tax breaks, Shaq."
Charles Barkley and Shaq—currently announcing the NBA game on TNT—are discussing what they’ll do with the tax cut @realDonaldTrump just gave them.
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) December 26, 2017
Johnson then reeled off some sponsors for the game, including the Ford F-150 truck and Burger King, which led Barkley to tell O'Neal the two of them should take their tax break and get a truck and hamburgers.
From there, the conversation grew muddled, although it sounded like the announcers threw around the idea of opening their own restaurant together.
"Chuck and Shaq's Big Boy Burgers," O'Neal said. "Let's do it."