Shaquille O’Neal has been very quiet about the fate of the NBA on TNT and Inside the NBA this summer compared to his costar Charles Barkley.
This week, O’Neal made it clear that is by design.
In an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Thursday, O’Neal explained why he’s treating this year as the legendary show’s last and keeping his future career plans close to the vest.
“We have one more year left,” O’Neal said. “So I am a consummate professional, so I’m not going to go left or go right. I just know we’re going to do this year, and hopefully something can be arranged after where the show continues. That’s all I’m at liberty to say right now.”
“Hopefully something can be arranged to where the show continues. That’s all I’m at liberty to say right now.”
Shaquille O’Neal responds publicly to the likely end of ‘Inside the NBA’ on TNT for the first time:pic.twitter.com/dLhUU94iGg
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O’Neal said he was not angry about the sequence of events that led to TNT likely losing NBA broadcast rights (pending the outcome of an ongoing lawsuit) because it was out of his control.
Rather than worry about what a judge decides or what execs at Warner Bros. Discovery might do, O’Neal said he’s focused on delivering a great season of Inside the NBA starting in October.
“Was I upset and frustrated? Not really, because … when it’s not in your control, there’s really nothing you can do,” O’Neal said. “So again, I’m going to just keep it professional. We’ve got this one last year left, we’re gonna f***ing make it the best ever, we’re gonna give people memories, and we’ll just take it from there.”
Barkley has done dozens of interviews this year about the fallout between TNT and the NBA, with WBD even using him in its PR campaign. And while Ryan Glasspiegel of the New York Post reported this week that O’Neal is looking for a major payday if he changes networks, O’Neal has not negotiated in public.
At just 52, it’s hard to imagine O’Neal will retire when TNT loses rights next year like Barkley purportedly will. And given that his podcast is no longer under the WBD umbrella, O’Neal is a likely candidate to depart TNT.
Just don’t expect him to wave his free agency around and draw attention to himself while the saga plays out.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.