When Shaquille O’Neal signed up to do Inside the NBA, he really didn’t know what he was getting himself into.
During a recent appearance on Draymond Green’s podcast, The Draymond Green Show, Shaq revealed what a former producer at TNT Sports relayed to him. According to O’Neal, he was told that people knew that he knew what he was talking about because he did it.
They just told him to be himself — and that’s what he’s done for the past 13 years.
“I wanted to be the Black Bryant Gumbel and use big words and do all that,” O’Neal explained. “And TNT said ‘Motherf***er, we’ll fire your a** tomorrow; be you. And I think that’s what makes our show the best show out there. G14 classification — Barkley Hall of Famer; Shaq Hall of Famer; Kenny two-time champion; Ernie, best analyst in the world. ‘But you guys can be yourself.’ And we make fun of people, we crack jokes, we do a lot of stuff.
“But you also have to realize after watching two games — good games or bad games — the fans that are real people and have to work in the morning, if we’re gonna keep you up past your bedtime, least we want to do is entertain you…”
While Shaq appreciates Barkley’s gift of gab that fuels Inside the NBA’s entertainment factor, he can’t resist a playful jab at his tendency to cut others off and recycle jokes.
It’s what makes the show go round.
With the uncertainty surrounding the NBA broadcasting rights and the potential loss of their longtime home at TNT, Shaq remains optimistic. He avoids speculation — both positive and negative — and prefers to wait for a definitive answer before addressing the future of the Inside the NBA crew.
“I’m glad I have different options to fall back on, but when I go left, it just starts to get sad,” he said. “Like damn, no Ernie, no Chuck, no Kenny. Then, when I think right, it’s a lot of other possibilities — great possibilities. But right now, I’m just gonna stay in the middle.”
