Shaquille O’Neal has been criticizing Steve Nash on several occasions, who had won the regular season MVP twice over him. He often blames Nash for stealing the MVP award from him, which he much deserved. In 2017, the Big Diesel faced a moment of betrayal and ‘Et Tu, Brute?’ when he found out his TNT co-analyst, Ernie Johnson, had voted for Steve Nash during the MVP race.
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In 2005 and 2006, Steve Nash won consecutive MVP titles, which infuriated Shaq. While according to Shaq, he deserved the award in 2006, he also felt that Kobe Bryant deserved to win the MVP race over Nash. To date, Shaq remains salty and never misses to taunt the former Brooklyn Nets coach for stealing a perfect winning chance from him.
Shaquille O’Neal faced an ‘Et Tu, Brute?’ moment after learning Ernie Johnson had voted Steve Nash
Shaquille O’Neal has formed a relatively close and family-like bond with his fellow TNT analysts, Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, and Charles Barkley. In 2017, Russell Westbrook emerged as the league MVP, with James Harden and Kawhi Leonard ranking behind him. As the Inside cast discussed Westbrook’s MVP, Shaq intuitively asked Johnson who he had voted for during his MVP race against Steve Nash.
“Shaq: Two times Steve Nash beat me out. You voted for Steve Nash?
Ernie Johnson: I-did. I don’t remember exactly who I had voted for but his name started with a N.”
At that time, Ernie never knew he would have Shaq beside him as his TNT co-analyst. During the 2004-05 campaign, Shaq came second behind Steve Nash, with a PER of 27. In that regular season, he had dropped 22.9 points, 10.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 2.3 blocks per game.
While Shaq was snubbed off MVP the next season as well, he at least got to flex his fourth NBA ring, compared to Steve Nash‘s none. Nash had come close to winning a hattrick of regular season MVPs, only to be beaten by Dirk Nowitzki in the 2006-07 season.
Shaq holds a grudge over Steve Nash’s snub in a therapy session
It seems like Shaq will never let go of the MVP snub he had to face against Steve Nash. During an episode of Open Court, the Big Aristotle blurted his heart out to Ernie Johnson in a mock therapy session on ‘the couch.’ Clearing his mind, Shaq expressed,
“It was this little, good-looking, David Beckham-looking guy, running around, passing the ball, doing this and that. He scored every now and then, but would beat me out in the MVP voting. I’m averaging 28-15, without the free throws! Do you know I’m going to the Finals every year.”
Shaq further added about the disparity of Steve Nash holding two MVP titles over other great players. He and Kobe Bryant, who have won a three-peat together at the Lakers, have only won the MVP race once, respectively. Disgruntled by this disparity, Shaq asked the MVP voters to throw their cameras away for not recognizing good performances.
