Charles Barkley exposed Shaquille O'Neal for disgusting habit that meant he could never live with the NBA icon

Charles Barkley exposed Shaquille O'Neal's most disgusting habit and branded the NBA legend "an animal" for it.

The pair were rivals on the court, though they were on the same page for the USA national team in a victorious 1996 Olympics - and have later teamed up as sports analysts for TNT's 'Inside the NBA' alongside Ernie Thompson Jr.

Barkley and Thompson have their own podcast called 'The Steam Room' and on the 100th episode, released a year ago, they dished the dirt on working with Shaq.

Though the Inside the NBA crew spend a good chunk of time together, both Barkley and Thompson are in agreement they could never never live with one another - specifically because Shaq has a tendency to leave his dumps in the toilet.

After Thompson mentioned about the Inside the NBA clan living under the same roof, 1993 MVP winner Barkley said: "We can’t share a house with Shaq. [Shaq] He’s an animal. The dude don’t flush the toilet!”.

The 7ft 1 behemoth is one of the most successful players in the history of basketball but there is another instance of some questionable hygiene from Big Diesel, who revealed he doesn't shower.

He left host Bobbi Althoff stunned by the claim on the The Really Good Podcast when she asked if he takes his sunglasses off when showering.

Shaquille O'Neal was exposed by Inside the NBA colleague Charles Barkley. Image: Getty

Shaq told Althoff,"I don’t really shower!" and after stating that he "smells like roses", admitted that he likes wearing "old lady perfume" to keep a nice cent.

The admission from the four-time NBA champion is even more bizarre considering Shaq once called out former Los Angeles Lakers teammate Dennis Rodman for not showering after games and heading straight to the club.

Speaking on The Big Podcast, the 52-year-old stated: "When he played with us, I had seen this dude play a full game, don't take a shower, go to a club and some of the baddest women I have ever seen in my life were there. Game is at 7:30, we have to be there at 6:00, he come in at 6:45, late for the meeting, eating chicken and rice, take a cold shower while we are talking, talking about going over game plan, then come out and play. After the game, he put his stuff on, going to the club and the baddies come out.

He added that Rodman smelled "like garbage truck water" and yet still had "models on him at the club".