Charles Barkley hilariously warns Stephen A. Smith that he's in for an 'a** whooping' on joint TNT-ESPN pregame broadcast for NBA In-Season Tournament

TNT and ESPN joined forces during a special NBA pregame show on Thursday night, and Charles Barkley made sure to mark his territory as he jostled with Stephen A. Smith.

The networks were in Las Vegas for the semifinals of the NBA's In-Season Tournament, with TNT's typical 'Inside the NBA' crew setting up near ESPN's 'NBA Countdown' cast.

And the Hall of Famer Barkley hilariously went at the 'First Take' mainstay Smith before the night's games tipped off.

'Let me tell you something, Stephen A,' Barkley said. 'If you come over here with all that loud a*** talking...

'Hey, this ain't 'First Take,' this gonna be the first a** whooping you take if you come over here with that loud *** talking.'

Smith cracked up at the remarks, as did the rest of his ESPN colleagues.

Barkley flashed a wide grin as he continued his tongue-in-cheek remarks as well.

Before ripping into Smith, the 60-year-old Barkley heaped praise onto the rest of the ESPN talent just seconds before, as he called host Malika Andrews 'fantastic' and thanked Michael Wilbon for 'being my mentor.'

He also told ex-Warriors GM Bob Myers 'I love you' and said 'you know how I feel about you' to insider Adrian Wojnarowski. 

The next day on 'First Take,' JJ Redick got involved in the banter as well.

'In all seriousness, I just want to say one thing: Stephen A, Chuck would absolutely whoop your a**,' the former sharpshooter said. 'I think you know that, but I just want to state that for all of America to know - Chuck would whoop your ass.'

Thursday's two games went very differently as the Pacers and Lakers both advanced to the finals of the In-Season Tournament.

In the earlier matchup, Indiana outlasted the Bucks 128-119 in a hard-fought affair.

The Lakers, meanwhile, blew out the Pelicans to the tune of 133-89.

Indiana and LA will meet in the final on Saturday night.