Shaquille O’Neal shook the NBA analysis world when he decided to join Turner Sports in July of 2011. He had signed a 2 year deal with the Boston Celtics in the summer of 2010 after having spent time alongside LeBron James on the Cleveland Cavaliers. Unfortunately for Shaq, he would never be able to live out the second year of his contract due to the fact that he suffered a career-ending Achilles injury.
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He played merely 37 games for the Celtics in the 2010-11 season and after the season had ended, he decided to retire for good. In doing so, he went down the Charles Barkley route and joined the set of ‘inside the NBA’ that very same summer. He signed a multi-year contract with them for an undisclosed total amount.
Most recently, with rumors floating around about Chuck’s retirement from in-game analysis on TNT at the age of 60, Turner Sports decided to lock down their 4 analysts for the foreseeable future. Shaq, along with Chuck, Kenny, and Ernie have all signed contracts that extend up for another decade.
How much is Shaq’s TNT contract worth?
Shaquille O’Neal earned close to $300 million over the course of his 19 year career in the NBA. While he isn’t going to earn that much from his TNT contract, he certainly is going to remain comfortable for the rest of his life simply off of how much earns from Turner.
After having signed these new contracts that last for 10 years, it’s been reported that Shaq will be earning $10 million per year before tax. This would mean that O’Neal would make a total of $100 million from just his TNT contract by the time he turns 60 years old.
Charles Barkley, his co-host, is on a similar contract as well. It’s unclear if Kenny and Ernie earn just as much as the two Hall-of-Fame big-men.
Shaquille O’Neal loves working for TNT
Shaquille O’Neal has always been vocal about his admiration for TNT over the course of several years now. He once said, “My worst day at TNT would be a good day. My worst day at ESPN would cause me to get fired.”
Shaq clearly loves working with his TNT co-hosts, saying, “I have a different type of love for Ernie Johnson. Ernie Johnson was a guy that I used to watch on TV. He actually came to my house when I was 17 years old to interview me. I love his voice. I love how he treats people.”
He’s admitted on several occasions that he has a lot of love for Charles Barkley as well. Despite the constant quarrels the two get into on national television, they have a brother-like relationship with one another.
