Shaquille O’Neal’s career in the NBA was beyond iconic. However, most younger fans now know him better as one of the funniest mainstays of TNT’s Inside the NBA, to the point where the show doesn’t seem nearly as entertaining when he is unable to be on the panel. But while Shaq’s name is now synonymous with TNT’s, the Lakers legend once almost chose to go in a very different direction.
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Shaquille O’Neal recently took to his podcast, The Big Podcast with Shaq to talk about certain decisions in life. One such decision was his picking TNT over ESPN after being pitched by both companies to come to work for them.
Co-host Adam Lefkoe asked Shaq if he was ever going to sign with ESPN. The Los Angeles Lakers legend went on to reveal that there wasn’t much of a chance at all, before talking about what steered him to TNT.
O’Neal shared the fact that he had not thought about making the transition from being a basketball player to talking about basketball on national television. But during his retirement party, both ESPN and TNT approached him to come aboard.
“I did the press conference at my house and ESPN came and Skipper came and said, ‘Hey, we wanna talk to you.’ and Tera and TNT came and said, ‘I wanted to talk to you.’ And I told my agent, ‘See what they’re talking about.’ I looked at the number and I was like…I have a job.”
“But I’m professional, I don’t like to pit people against each other. You know, I realized ESPN is very, very corporate. I have ADHD, AD, ADDDD. Probably wouldn’t work up there. TNT is a little bit more loose, I said, ‘Imma go with TNT.’ Plus, was in Atlanta. I’m familiar with the city, been living here for 30 years. I wasn’t comfortable with going to Connecticut.”
This wasn’t the first time Shaquille O’Neal spoke about his choice to pick TNT over ESPN as his desired place to work. The seven-foot big once also credited the opportunity to work with Ernie Johnson as one of the reasons why he picked TNT and decided to go with them.
As for Shaq’s statement above, it surely was the right decision to go with TNT over ESPN. Given Shaq’s persona, he is known to be fun-loving and tends to fool around, something that sits well with the crew and the co-hosts of the show. Had he been at ESPN, it might have been amusing to think of O’Neal and Stephen A. Smith getting into a heated debate that ends with the two dealing with things off camera.
Charles Barkley also revealed why he chose TNT over ESPN
Shaquille O’Neal wasn’t the only one who preferred TNT over ESPN. Philadelphia 76ers legend Charles Barkley once also revealed why he did not go to ESPN when he was given the chance to, during one episode.
“They not going to work me like a dog and then not pay me. ESPN 1, 2, 3, ESPN News, ESPN U, ESPN Radio, and then come up with that little puny thing.”
Charles Barkley’s explanation had Shaquille O’Neal and the remaining co-hosts in splits as he mocked the rival company, their tendency to overwork their employees, and some inside jokes fans and viewers weren’t privy to.
Recently, ‘The Round Mound of Rebound’ gave his two cents on Kendrick Perkins’s take on Nikola Jokic gaining MVP traction due to his skin color.
“I always talk about ESPN disease. A lot of these guys, when they get on TV and stuff, they’re like, ‘well I’m on ESPN, I got to say something provocative.’ And you know the thing about it, you’re always gonna get some fools out there, you guys probably get some fools calling in agreeing with him!”
While Barkley and O’Neal may have had different reasons for not picking ESPN, the entire basketball community can be thankful for it. Especially given how many hilarious and heartwarming moments just these two have given us over the years.
