“Can’t Do It, He’s My Guy”: Shaquille O’Neal Refuses to Read Erik Spoelstra’s Name as Winner of Shaqtin’ A Fool

When Shaquille O’Neal joined the world of broadcasting on TNT in 2011, he brought a unique segment – Shaqtin’ A Fool. Over the past 14 seasons, Shaq has compiled some of the most hilarious and bizarre things that transpired on the NBA Court and pushed out the Top 4 for the audience. This week was no different.

Four clips were selected from last week and put in front of the fans on X to decide the winner. The shortlisted clips were: 1) A video of Coach Erik Spoelstra of the Miami Heat calling a timeout against the Pistons in their NBA Cup game when they were out of timeouts. 2) Rudy Gobert connecting on an alley-oop pass but failing to make the dunk. 3) Spurs’ defensive breakdown which led to an open layup. 4) Ziarie Williams spiking the basketball, nearly hitting Josh Hart.

The fans cast their votes, and now it was time for Dr. O’Neal to present the same on Inside The NBA. Shaq had no problems mocking Rudy Gobert as he took the 4th spot. “Auditioning for Team USA Volleyball,” said O’Neal while announcing Williams as the third.

“The whole team, with the Ole! defense,” mocked Shaq after calling the Spurs defense as the 2nd on the list. However, when it came to announcing this week’s winner, Shaquille O’Neal asked for Ernie Johnson’s help.

“Ernie I need you to do me a favor. I need you to read number one,” O’Neal said as the Spo clip rolled. “He’s my guy… I’m not doing that.”

It was admirable seeing Shaq not want to throw his old coach’s name in the mud. However, we’re pretty sure Shaq might have been the one who shortlisted the clips. While Shaq refused to take Coach Spo’s name, the clip rolled in the background with some hilarious edits.

The game footage already had shown Jalen Rose in shock. He was probably re-living his 1993 NCAA Championship game blunder. Back then, Chris Webber called a timeout against UNC, a timeout the Michigan ‘Fab Five’ did not have. That resulted in a technical, and Michigan lost the National Championship. Shaqtin’ A Fool even included Chris Webber in their montage.

Chris Webber even reached out to Charles Barkley about the inclusion. “I’m in my hotel, minding my own business, and y’all are killing me,” Webber’s text read. Chuck threw the blame on Shaq and said, “We love you CWebb! It was all Shaq!”

Did Coach Spoelstra’s timeout cost Miami a chance at the NBA Cup?

While Webber’s timeout cost the Fab Five the National Championship, Spo’s timeout might have cost the Heat a chance at the Cup. Pistons took the technical shots and ended up winning the game 123-121. In the NBA Cup, there are 4 group stage games and to get selected to the QuarterFinals, you either need to win your group, or be a contender for Wild Card.

So far, the Heat’s group has two unbeaten teams – the Pistons and the Bucks. In order for the Heat to qualify, they need to hope both teams lose at least one game, and that they have the better point differential.

The Heat won their 2nd NBA Cup contest, which was against the Pacers. They now need to beat the Bucks and the Raptors both, while keeping a healthy win margin, in order to keep their NBA Cup dreams alive.