“I’ll Dive in That Tree Right Now”: Shaquille O’Neal Continues His ‘Love Affair’ with the Christmas Tree on TNT

How can a Christmas-spirited broadcast for the Inside the NBA crew air without Shaquille O’Neal ending up buried in the studio’s massive Christmas tree! The age-old custom continued this year as well as the four-time NBA Champion confidentially turned to his co-hosts during the show, smirking, “I’ll dive in that tree right now and make some more branches.”

Shaq then teased Ernie Johnson for a reaction, “Say I won’t, Ernie.”

The rest of the panel at Studio J didn’t take the legendary center seriously initially. However, Kenny Smith soon started pleading the 320-lb giant to not indulge in the foolishness because he might hurt himself. However, Shaq is never the one to back down from such misadventures. He continued to stare down Johnson and repeat the phrase, “Say I won’t.”

Shaq eventually persuaded the 68-year-old to respond, “There’s no way you’ll do that, Shaq.” Right after that, O’Neal decided to put his money where his mouth is, adding “Face first” to his proposal.

Despite panicked reasoning from Johnson and Smith, Shaq, grinning ear to ear, dismissed his co-hosts as he popped up from his seat and sprinted toward the massive plant. With his huge frame, the 52-year-old managed to bring down the bottom portion of the 20-foot tree. He did enough damage to prompt Smith to humorously groan “We gotta get a new tree now, man.”

The Jet doesn’t have much room to complain about the Big Fella’s destruction after the prank he pulled on the show last week. While handing out gifts to his co-hosts, Smith pointed out that Shaq’s present was too big to bring to him, purposefully urging the 19-year veteran to stroll over to the gift pile. Before the big man could even reach his present, wrapped in “Shaq-a-Clause” paper, Smith forcefully shoved him into the tree, taking down the pile of gifts with him.

Smith gleefully shouted how the crew manages to get Shaq to fall into the tree at least once every holiday season. It’s true, as this occasion marks the fifth time O’Neal has been thrown into the towering evergreen.

Shaq’s Christmas tree debacles have been going on for years

The hilarious holiday tradition for the crew at Studio J was established as early as 2012, when the newest addition to Inside the NBA suffered an amusing fate while demonstrating a shot. The tree toppled on to Shaq, by itself, knocking him down to the ground in the process.

This was also far from the first year Kenny Smith, specifically, launched the Diesel into the Christmas tree. The 59-year-old got Shaq in 2022 while the two were racing to the studio’s big board, another commonplace activity for the crew.

Smith beat him, catching Shaq off guard and tossing him with one hand before making it to the screen. Kenny continues to get his lick in every holiday season yet spices up his strategy to seemingly catch Shaq off guard every time.