Shaquille O'Neal shows off his foot Photo credit: TNT

Inside the NBA doesn’t always stick to sports. And naturally, Shaquille O’Neal’s feet became a topic of conversation Thursday night.

There is no bigger wild card in sports than the final hour of Inside the NBA, where Shaq, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson know no bounds. Well, Ernie does. But the rest? Not so much.

After Russell Westbrook shouted out his daughters for painting his nails before helping the Denver Nuggets to a 132-123 win over the Sacramento Kings, Barkley and Shaq said they used to let their daughters do the same thing.


“My daughter used to do my toenails,” Barkley said.

“Yeah, me too,” Shaq added, which drew concern from Barkley and Smith, both remembering the last time he let his feet out of their shoes.

“You subjected your kids to your feet?” Barkley asked with concern as Smith added, “Shaq, that had to be punishment.”

And on cue, O’Neal shamelessly whipped out his size 22 foot, maybe 23 depending on how recently he clipped his toenails. Thursday night, he looked like a 23. Those nails don’t even look paintable. Maybe they were paintable when his kids were younger, but those nails look like they would absorb paint the way a piece of tree bark does.

“Your feet look like a bald eagle’s feet!” Smith said after getting a good look.

Shrieks of horror and disgust came from the studio as Shaq proudly wiggled his toes, noting “I haven’t had time to do my feet” or nails.

Find some time, Shaq.

About Brandon Contes

Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com