Shaq has already provided plenty of legitimate laughs in his short tenure on Inside the NBA.  And we’re not talking about the fake laughter one sees on any run of the mill NFL pregame show (except for NBC’s Football Night in America it seems), we’re talking about moments that are actually funny!  Not that Frank Caliendo trainwreck kind of funny, or NFL Today forced kind of awkward funny, or Michael Irvin obnoxious… well, you get the point.  Even though Shaq is great on television and entertaining in his own right, some of his most notable moments so far have centered on himscrewing up basic facts and envoking laughter on the studio set.

First, there was Shaq having a bit of trouble with his percentages when breaking down free throw shooting after Dwight Howard’s record performance last Thursday.  Surprisingly, 18 divided by 39 will never be greater than 50%, not even if the Big Aristotle says so… 

https://youtube.com/watch?v=MA2sB3FrfUA

And then last night, Shaq was trying to compliment Minnesota’s rookie point guard Ricky Rubio by calling him “the Italian Pete Maravich.”  One problem.  Ricky Rubio is from Spain, not Italy.  Yes, they share the same continent and the same base of Romance language, but still definitely not the same country.  You think Spain would be caught dead with the full cast of Jersey Shore inside its borders?  Thankfully, Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, and Kenny Smith were quick to pounce…

And these clips are what make Inside the NBA superior to other studio shows.  When someone does make a gaffe or a screwup on the set, the other guys on set destroy that person immediately.  There’s a natural sense of humor and fraternity on the Inside set that every other studio show desperately tries to create.  If Jon Barry or Jalen Rose were to say this on ESPN, I’m not sure anyone would even be awake enough to notice.

(via Sportress of Blogitude, video: SportsGrid) 

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