"Ain't First Take, this gonna be first to a** whooping": Charles Barkley sidesplittingly warns Stephen A. Smith for checking his 'loud talking'

Charles Barkley and Stephen A. Smith are two of the most charismatic figures on sports TV. The basketball Hall of Famer works for TNT’s Inside the NBA while the ESPN host runs First Take. For the December 7 semifinals of the NBA In-Season Tournament, both networks have agreed to work side by side. The collaboration is probably as anticipated as the games between the Indiana Pacers-Milwaukee Bucks and New Orleans Pelicans-LA Lakers.

During the pre-game coverage, the two networks’ setups were only a few meters apart, and the hosts acknowledged each other. It didn’t take long for Barkley to take center stage. The former NBA MVP profusely thanked ESPN’s Michael Wilbon and then gave a shout-out to Bob Myers, Malika Andrews and Adrian Wojnarowski.

Charles Barkley reserved his special comments for Stephen A. Smith with a loud and brash claim:

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“If you come over here with all that loud a** talking. Hey, this ain’t First Take, this gonna be the first to a** whooping you take.”

The crowd just loved it. Everybody lustily cheered when Charles Barkley took his hilarious shot at Stephen A. Smith. Many have been dreaming of the NBA covering games in this setup. They are finally living that dream.

The league has done a masterpiece in drumming up interest for Thursday's game between the Milwaukee Bucks and Indiana Pacers and the LA Lakers' match against the New Orleans Pelicans.

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Charles Barkley and his co-hosts from TNT quickly dominated the start of the coverage against Stephen A. Smith’s crew

The respect and admiration between the two teams covering the semifinals of the NBA In-Season Tournament were obvious. TNT’s hosts, before anything else, gave props to their counterparts from ESPN. Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson, however, quickly dominated the start of the show.

TNT’s Smith acknowledged First Take’s Smith before exhorting Shaq to start the coverage the way they always do outside of the studio. O’Neal rose with his impressive frame and put on a dazzling display of crowd engagement.

He excitedly asked the fans:

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“Are you not entertained?! Are you not entertained?! I said, ‘Are you not entertained?’”

Stephen A. Smith, Malika Andrews and former Golden State Warriors GM Bob Myers couldn’t hold back their laughter.

Unfortunately for fans who loved the collaboration, the semifinals is the culmination of TNT’s coverage of the NBA In-Season Tournament. ESPN will take over the finals of the said competition. Thursday night will be something most will savor. Perhaps the league will decide to ask both networks to do a few more of these in the future.