Shaquille O’Neal didn’t know Ja Morant was not playing in Grizzlies-Rockets game

The second game in TNT’s Thursday night NBA doubleheader featured the Houston Rockets against the Memphis Grizzlies. Memphis, though was shorthanded, which was news to Shaquille O’Neal on Inside the NBA.

Discussing the game, O’Neal said that he was “looking forward to the Ja Morant-Jalen Green matchup,” but soon found out that he wouldn’t get to see those two share the court.

“Well, Ja Morant’s out tonight,” host Ernie Johnson replied.

“OK, so Ja Morant’s out. So forget that,” O’Neal said, as everyone else at the desk began to laugh.

“I’m looking forward to the Ja Morant-Jalen Green matchup.” – Shaq, ahead of the TNT broadcast of Rockets-Grizzlies

“Well, Ja Morant’s out tonight.” – Ernie Johnson

“Okay, so Ja Morant’s out. So forget that…” – Shaq 🏀🎙️😂#NBA pic.twitter.com/LuYoQDb23g

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 31, 2025

Morant has missed 20 games this season but played in each of the team’s previous two games. Earlier on Thursday, Drew Hill of The Daily Memphian reported that Morant “took a bump in practice yesterday and flagged the soreness this morning.” Still, Morant’s status was listed as questionable for much of the day until it was downgraded to doubtful hours before the game began.

So, while it’s a funny blooper, we can cut Shaq some slack on this one. We’ve certainly seen worse mistakes — significantly worse mistakes — than this in the past.