{"id":751856,"date":"2026-06-04T01:36:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T01:36:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/751856\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T01:36:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T01:36:16","slug":"imagine-me-but-at-seven-feet-tall-charles-barkley-was-more-impressed-with-a-young-shaquille-oneals-thickness-rather-than-height","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/751856\/","title":{"rendered":"“Imagine me, but at seven feet tall” – Charles Barkley was more impressed with a young Shaquille O’Neal’s thickness rather than height"},"content":{"rendered":"

When\u00a0Shaquille O’Neal<\/a>\u00a0entered the NBA as the No.1 overall pick of the 1992 NBA Draft, the entire association was awed by his colossal frame. At 7’1″ tall, O’Neal was a well-sculpted 300-pound specimen with just 10 percent body fat. Unlike other seven-footers in the league at that time, he was light on his feet, cat quick, and very agile. Blessed with athleticism and brute force, Shaq dominated the game like no other.<\/p>\n

But while most credited young Shaquille’s dominance to his size and athleticism,\u00a0Charles Barkley<\/a>\u00a0thought what made O’Neal unstoppable was his wide body.<\/p>\n

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“He’s not as tall as I thought. But he’s so wide. That’s better than tall. He’s as thick as me. Imagine me, but at seven-feet tall,”\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0Barkley via Playboy after interviewing the then-Orlando Magic center for his TV show in Phoenix.<\/p>\n

It was hard to notice young Shaq’s wide body<\/p>\n

Listed at 6’6″ but was actually closer to 6’4″, Barkley was one of the biggest anomalies in NBA history. At his size, he played the power forward position and battled with the likes of 6’9″ Karl Malone, 6’9″ Terry Cummings, and 6’8″ Buck Williams in the paint without giving an inch.<\/p>\n

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What Barkley lacked in height, he made up for with the wide, stocky, and powerfully built frame that enabled him to average 22.1 points and 11.7 rebounds per game during his 16-year NBA career. Because Chuck was short, it was always easy to see that he was thick, even during his Phoenix days, when he was in peak shape.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, it was hard to tell from afar that the early version of Shaq was as wide-bodied, since he was seven feet tall and very muscular. With those physical attributes, his body looked well-proportioned.<\/p>\n

However, a closer look at the Diesel revealed he had a broad chest, massive shoulders, and a large bone structure that made his width more apparent. Aside from having to interview O’Neal, Barkley’s Suns played two games against the Orlando Magic<\/a> during O’Neal’s rookie season, so Chuck saw and felt Shaq up close and personal.<\/p>\n

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Related: Way before his disaster against the Spurs, Chet Holmgren claimed it would take him two months to become the best NBA player<\/a><\/p>\n

Shaq picked up where Chuck left off<\/p>\n

Weeks after Barkley’s interview with Playboy, he was named the NBA’s 1993 MVP, and the month after, he led the Suns to the 1993 NBA Finals, where they faced Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls<\/a>, who were chasing a three-peat. Although he remained a dominant force in the league, Charles never returned to the NBA Finals until his retirement in 2000.<\/p>\n

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The season the Chuckster retired was the same year when O’Neal led the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> to the first of three straight NBA championships. By then,\u00a0Barkley’s\u00a0“taller version” had established himself as the most dominant player in the game. Shaq would win a fourth title in Miami<\/a> in 2006 before retiring in 2011.<\/p>\n

After his retirement, Shaquille became teammates with Charles on TNT’s award-winning “Inside the NBA” TV show. A decade later, they were both named to the NBA’s 75th anniversary team, and\u00a0O’Neal was one of those who spoke about Barkley<\/a>\u00a0in his NBA 75 video.<\/p>\n

“Charles Barkley. The Round Mound of Rebound\u2026 You always hear the term ‘Size doesn’t matter.’\u00a0For Charles Barkley, size did not matter,”\u00a0O’Neal said in the\u00a0video<\/a>.\u00a0“As a center, they are always 6’10”, 6’11”, or 7 foot. Power forwards are 6’8\u2033, 6’9\u2033, or 6’10”. Not Charles Barkley. Charles Barkley was a solid 6’4\u2033. He didn’t care if you were taller or you were bigger or if you were faster or if you were stronger. He was gonna go through you, and nothing could stop this man.”<\/p>\n

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Barkley and O’Neal were two of the most physically dominant players in league history. Perhaps the only difference between their careers was Shaquille’s four championship rings. However, just think of how many Charles could have won if he were seven feet tall, too.<\/p>\n

Related: “We got the Charles Barkley mentality” – The rare night Shaquille O’Neal and Barkley traded wholesome compliments during the 2001 WCF<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally published by Basketball Network<\/a> on Jun 3, 2026, where it first appeared in the Old School<\/a> section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When\u00a0Shaquille O’Neal\u00a0entered the NBA as the No.1 overall pick of the 1992 NBA Draft, the entire association was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":751857,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3779],"tags":[42487,7,2001,329,150,48,295,6,92390,47,76,3883,65639],"class_list":["post-751856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando-magic","tag-1992-nba-draft","tag-basketball","tag-charles-barkley","tag-chicago-bulls","tag-los-angeles-lakers","tag-magic","tag-miami","tag-nba","tag-o39neal","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-magic","tag-orlandomagic","tag-shaquille-o39neal"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116689278295086784","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/751856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=751856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/751856\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/751857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=751856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=751856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=751856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}