Shaquille O’Neal is counted among the most dominant players the NBA has ever seen. He was ruthless and mean, but Shaq also provided fans with highlights to remember for ages. From dunking on the big men of the league and funny commercials to dancing on the court, Shaq was a complete package in his playing days. Big Aristotle was perhaps born to entertain, and perhaps that is the reason, he is still counted among the crowd favorites among NBA analysts on TNT. Recently, the sports network ESPN cut a large part of its workforce in order to increase its overall profits. While many well-known analysts and commentators were laid off, Shaq posted a video that implied that only Brian Windhorst at ESPN could never be fired.
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Earlier, the sports media giant released at least 20 of its high-profile employees as part of its cost-cutting plan. The plan for Disney is to increase the overall profit of the company. Among the top-tier names who have been fired is Jeff van Gundy, who is known for calling NBA Finals with Mike Breen and Mark Jackson. Former NBA player Jalen Rose was also on the list of players who have been fired. Max Kellerman and his co-host Keyshawn Johnson also made the unfortunate list. Anchor Ashley Brewer and famed reporter Nick Friedell were also on the list of people who have been let go from the company. Only two big names from the network are left, Stephen A. Smith, who earns $13,000,000 with ESPN and Brian Windhorst.
Shaquille O’Neal might have taken a shot at Stephen A. Smith by snubbing him from irreplaceable ESPN analysts
Windhorst is one of the longest-serving ESPN reporters on the network. Despite the fact that he doesn’t look like a former basketball player, he doesn’t speak loudly like Stephen A. Smith, but there is one thing about Windy that keeps the audience captivated. Unlike other inside reporters for the network like Adrian Wojnarowski, whose job is to put news with more clarity, Brain has mastered the style of dropping breadcrumbs. He leaves his audience to do the research and perhaps think deeper. He has largely covered LeBron James’ career, and his articles have a knack for waking up the bookworm within sports enthusiasts.
Stephen A. Smith maintains very good relationships with other former and current NBA stars. One of them that he constantly remains in touch with is Shaquille O’Neal. Snubbing SAS from the list is definitely a blow to the self-proclaimed “face of ESPN” analyst.
Visionary Shaq rejected ESPN to join TNT because he thought they might fire him anytime
It is one of those times when calling Shaq Dr. Shaquille O’Neal makes complete sense. The Big Aristotle said something years ago about ESPN that sadly came to be true. The wise big man is not just good at his job but also knows the business, unlike others. In an interview, Shaq, who works for TNT opened up about his decision to join TNT instead of ESPN. Dr. O’Neal said that despite the money that the media network was providing, he would never trust them with his job security.
“My worst day at [TNT] would be a good day,” said O’Neal. “My worst day at ESPN would cause me to get fired,” he added.
Well, it looks like Big Diesel’s business mind anticipated things years before everyone could witness it.
