Tag: shaquille o’neal

Shaq reportedly does not have a contract for Inside the NBA before its big ESPN syndication

Would this show even work without Shaq?

Now that we know Inside the NBA will air on ESPN, the good news is that the iconic TV program will continue beyond just this season.

There is still a lot we do not know, however, and that includes whether or not Shaquille O’Neal is part of the team. While there was some talk that Charles Barkley would retire from sports media at the end of the 2024-25 season, he has since change his mind and will return to Turner Sports.

Ernie Johnson and Kenny Smith will also remain with the network and will continue the show during its migration to ESPN. But as for Shaq, his future is actually uncertain.

Here is more from Jimmy Traina (via Sports Illustrated):

“Sources say O’Neal’s contract with WBD expires on July 1, 2025.

O’Neal has a slightly different deal than his three castmates because they do other things for WBD, including the NCAA tournament. Shaq’s deal is strictly for the NBA and it’s up in about eight months.

While sources say Shaq wants to remain on the show, he’s frustrated that there has been congratulations and press releases hyping that Inside the NBA is remaining the same while he is currently not under contract to be with the company next season.”

The show would simply not be the same without Shaq, whose chemistry especially with Barkley is unparalleled.

Shaq still has plenty of time to strike a deal with either Warner Brothers Discovery, ESPN, Amazon, or NBC before next season begins.

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Social media reacts to ‘Inside The NBA’ heading to ESPN, ABC next season: ‘They’ll cover the Finals, we are so back’

NBA fans got huge news on Saturday: The ‘Inside The NBA’ show will be back. Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal are heading to ESPN and ABC next season as part of an out-of-court settlement between Warner Brothers …

NBA fans got huge news on Saturday: The ‘Inside The NBA’ show will be back. Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal are heading to ESPN and ABC next season as part of an out-of-court settlement between Warner Brothers Discovery and the NBA.

Here’s how social media initially reacted:

Bill Burr roasted Shaquille O’Neal promoting stuff in SNL monologue

Bill Burr roasted Shaq.

Bill Burr’s monologue after the cold open of the latest Saturday Night Live did touch on the election, but he ventured into other subjects as stand-up comedians do.

And Shaquille O’Neal ended up being roasted.

Burr talked about waking up in the middle of the night recently and was greeted by Shaq promoting printer ink. He did a little O’Neal impression and then made jokes.

MORE SNL: Weekend Update made a Bronny James joke

“Dude, is there no end to that guy’s credibility?” Burr asked. “I thought when he was selling Buicks, that was the end of it. … It blows my mind, doesn’t he even have like a billion dollars at this point?

Watch below — the Shaq stuff starts around the 6-minute mark:

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Shaq dismantled Charles Barkley’s rant about the WNBA being petty with Caitlin Clark

Here’s why Shaq disagrees with Charles Barkley calling WNBA players “petty.”

Shaquille O’Neal has avidly supported his friend and colleague, Charles Barkley. But he disagrees with Barkley’s assessment of Caitlin Clark‘s WNBA transition.

Barkley made waves early this year when he called out the league for being “petty” towards Clark. His words eventually reached high-profile players like A’ja Wilson and even fellow rookie Angel Reese. Wilson took the high road when asked to comment at the time, but Reese seemingly called Barkley out.

The narrative that WNBA players are “jealous” of Caitlin has continued throughout the season. But Shaq isn’t quite buying it. Per Lindsay Schnell, here’s what he recently shared with USA TODAY:

“There’s envious jealousy. There’s professional jealousy,” O’Neal said. “Sure, there’s a lot of people who are professionally jealous. I am. I’m professionally jealous of a lot of people. I’m professionally jealous of Steph [Curry]. He makes $60 million. But hey, that’s life.”

“You gotta also understand that we’re not just going to give it to you because everybody else is giving it to you…Yeah, you’re great, but you ain’t that great yet. Calm down. We still got Diana Taurasi. We still got A’ja Wilson, if you’re gonna give [Caitlin] props make sure our girls that are dominating in this league get the same props.”

“Loudmouths like Chuck are talking about hating — it’s not hating…As good as Caitlin Clark is, we’ve had a lot of young ladies who have been doing good [before] and not getting props. People like props, and they want to feel good when you’re talking about [their league]…it’s not hating. Everybody has to wait their turn.”

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Shaq explained why Rudy Gobert and Ben Simmons are the worst NBA players ever by doubling down

Shaq wants these NBA players to step their game up.

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Shaquille O’Neal recently went viral for comments he made about Rudy Gobert and Ben Simmons, and he is already doubling down on it.

During a conversation with Complex Sports, the hoops legend was asked who he felt was the worst NBA player of all time. O’Neal immediately said it was Minnesota Timberwolves big man Rudy Gobert.

He added that Ben Simmons, who like O’Neal played college basketball for LSU, is “another bum” as well. According to O’Neal, guys like Gobert and Simmons are ruining the pay scale for other players and he doesn’t “respect” guys like that.

Shaquille O’Neal vs. Rudy Gobert: A detailed history and timeline of their beef

O’Neal recently appeared on USA TODAY’s Sports Seriously with host Mackenzie Salmon and he was asked about the comments. Here is what he said:

“It’s also personal motivation. So now Rudy and Ben: Show me what you got. See, like, people don’t understand the things I’m saying no on TV, it’s the same things I said to my players as a leader. Young man … you’re getting paid $20 million, you ain’t doing nothing. Step your game up. The outsiders that what we know, they’re like ‘oh, he’s hating.’ No, I’m not hating. I’m telling you the truth. And if you don’t like the truth, that’s something you got to deal with. So now, it’s out there. It’s viral. So show me what you’re going to do, Rudy and Ben. Shut me up.”

Gobert responded to these comments from O’Neal, adding that he is “sad to see” O’Neal was “triggered by another man’s finances” despite all of Shaq’s personal accomplishments on and off the court.

But based on O’Neal’s comments to Salmon, it seems obvious that Shaq is simply trying to motivate Gobert to strive for greatness so that he be the best version of himself.

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Shaquille O’Neal said Angel Reese is ‘like a daughter’ to him as he attended his first Sky game this season

This is so cool to hear from Shaq about his relationship with Angel Reese.

Chicago Sky rookie forward Angel Reese is one of the WNBA’s brightest stars, and she had a major supporter in the Chicago crowd during Friday night’s game against Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever.

NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal has a close relationship with Reese going back to the latter’s days at LSU where he became one of her mentors, and the Los Angeles Lakers alumnus spoke glowingly about Reese as he attended her first WNBA game.

“[Angel is] like a daughter to me,” O’Neal shared, via the WNBA’s Twitter (X) account.

It’s so cool to see two basketball greats strike up such an impactful mentor-mentee relationship as Shaq and Reese have, as their LSU connection seems to have developed into something much more profound and special.

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Shaquille O’Neal wasn’t impressed with Team USA winning the gold medal

Lakers great Shaquille O’Neal seems disappointed with how Team USA played in the Olympics and felt it should’ve been much more dominant.

Although it looked vulnerable and/or complacent at times, Team USA men’s basketball took home yet another Olympic gold medal this summer. LeBron James, along with Stephen Curry and others, led the way with some excellent all-around play and was named the MVP of men’s basketball competition.

The United States certainly had a few hiccups, and it came dangerously close to losing a couple of times. Most notably, it nearly lost an exhibition game to South Sudan, a vastly inferior squad, before James’ game-winning layup saved the day and ensured a 101-100 win.

Then in the semifinal round versus Nikola Jokić and Serbia, Team USA trailed by double-digits in the fourth quarter, only to come back and claim a 95-91 victory.

Los Angeles Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal was asked on his podcast “The Big Podcast” about how Jayson Tatum was benched at one point in the Olympics. He then implied that he was disappointed by how the United States played overall by referencing that near-disaster versus South Sudan.

“I’m not even paying attention to the Olympics,” said O’Neal “… I have a dominant personality. I don’t care how you are, whatever, my cousin Kenny just had this argument upstairs. My cousin said, ‘The world is getting close’ but I don’t think it is. The fact that [USA Basketball won] 97-95, you only beat South Sudan by one [possession]. Come on, bro. That’s never supposed to happen.”

The big fella played for Team USA in the 1994 FIBA World Championship and in the 1996 Olympics, winning gold medals both times. Back then, the level of competition in international basketball was much lower than it is in the modern era.

While the United States continues to have a majority of the world’s best basketball players, it has gotten to the point where Team USA cannot get away with a lack of effort or complacency if it is to emerge victorious and win the gold.

One has to wonder if it was a bit complacent when it narrowly defeated South Sudan and Serbia.

Which Boston Celtics alum is the NBA’s biggest career earner from Newark, New Jersey?

There are multiple Celtics alumni hailing from this city, so it could trip you up.

Which Boston Celtics alum is the NBA’s biggest career earner from Newark, New Jersey? On one hand, this player is among the NBA’s greatest of all time and a massive presence in league history, so he should be fairly easy to guess. But on the other, there are multiple Celtics alumni hailing from this city, so it could still trip you up.

If you did not find yourself guessing the Big Aristotle (or any of his many nicknames), we’ll spill the beans for you. Shaquille O’Neal is the top earner all-time from Newark with a total of $292,198,327 in career earnings per HoopsHype.

A ways behind him is Bam Adebayo with $105,071,112, but the Miami Heat big man could catch Shaq one day if the league’s salaries keep going up as they have been in recent years.

The final three include Kenneth Faried with $56,898,674 earned to date, former Boston forward Eric Williams with $39,835,520 career earnings, and we can claim Randy Foye and his $34,106,401 in salary earned in the NBA if you squint.

Foye was drafted by Boston and traded away that same night.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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Every Boston Celtics player appearance on ‘Shaqtin’a Fool’ since 2011

Watch the clip to see the worst (or at least the funniest) of the Celtics over the last decade and a year.

While it might not be an honor to appear on former Boston Celtics big man Shaquille O’Neal‘s “Shaqtin a Fool” segment on TNT’s “Inside the NBA,” a fair number of Boston players making a guest appearance over the years. The segment, for the uninitiated, is effectively the blooper reel of the dumbest, funniest or weirdest things Shaq and company caught on video that week.

Now, YouTuber and Celtics fan videographer Danielle Hobeika put together an all-time compilation of when Celtics players made the show. The list includes Rajon Rondo, Mikael Pietrus, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Kris Humphries, Vitor Faverani, Kelly Olynyk, Jeff Green, Brandon Bass, Isaiah Thomas, Marcus Smart, Terry Rozier, Al Horford, Gerald Green, Jayson Tatum, Daniel Theis, Kemba Walker, Jaylen Brown, and Glen “Big Baby” Davis.

Watch the clip embedded below to see the worst of Boston over the last decade and a year — and try not to drink anything while you watch it.

Check out the Celtics Lab podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

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Boston Celtics big man alum Shaquille O’Neal named among ESPN’s top 20 athletes of 21st century

When it comes to the top 100 athletes of the 21st century, former Boston Celtics big man Shaquille O’Neal is one of them in the eyes of ESPN.

When it comes to the top 100 athletes of the 21st century, former Boston Celtics big man Shaquille O’Neal is one of them in the eyes of ESPN. Clocking in at No. 17 overall in the first edition of their recent top-100 list, O’Neal was a member of the Celtics organization in the 2010-11 NBA season, hoping to pick up another ring with Boston’s penultimate title crew.

Alas, injuries to Shaq and fellow Celtics kept that from happening, but we still get to claim the Big Aristotle regardless. And as to what got him such a lofty perch in ESPN’s rankings is explained at length by Dave McMenamin.

“When Phil Jackson took a then 27-year-old O’Neal out to dinner during training camp ahead of the 1999-2000 Lakers season, the Zen Master challenged the center with a lofty objective,” writes McMenamin.

That objective — to not only earn that season’s MVP award, but to do it so often and well the award would be re-named after him — appeared to strike a chord. “O’Neal went on to win three MVPs during the ensuing campaign,” adds the ESPN writer.

“The league never named the trophy after O’Neal, but he did pick up the moniker “Most Dominant Ever,” which isn’t a bad consolation prize.” 

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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