N.J.’s Shaquille O’Neal wins huge bet over ‘Inside the NBA’ teammate

Shaquille O’Neal became an even richer man on Tuesday night ... if his betting opponent is willing to pay out the wager.

Sitting in his usual seat on TNT’s “Inside the NBA” studio show, he listened as teammate and fellow NBA great Charles Barkley showed his immense confidence in the Miami Heat. There was no doubt they were going to win their NBA Play-In Tournament game against the Atlanta Hawks because “come on, the Hawks stink.” Barkley would be willing to bet any amount on that happening.

“A billion dollars,” Barkley threw out.

O’Neal responded with a hawk-esque noise — “Ah-haw!” — to indicate he was in. By the break, with the Hawks up 15 points, Barkley was starting to sound nervous.

“Remember last week we had this conversation, I said neither one of these teams is any good,” Barkley said. “I thought Miami was good enough to beat the Hawks. Still a long way to go, but neither one of these teams is any good.”

Once the final buzzer sounded at FTX Arena and the Hawks were official 11-point winners, TNT returned to studio where O’Neal was holding his pinky finger against his face like Dr. Evil, an expression that says “One (billion) dollars!”

The Hawks earned the seventh seed, so they will face the second-seed Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs. The Heat fell to the eighth-seed, so they will face the top-seed Milwaukee Bucks in the first round.