Shaquille O’Neal has been known to wreak havoc on the basketball court since the early days of his career. The Diesel has continued his notorious stunts with the Inside the NBA crew on the sets of TNT at Studio J in Atlanta as well. Tonight Shaq proved that he is still as destructive as his prime days by breaking the TNT’s digital big screen.
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During a halftime segment for the Milwaukee Bucks vs Orlando Magic broadcast last night, Shaq surprised his co-host, Kenny Smith, by bouncing up from his chair and running over to the studio’s big board. Over the years, the co-hosts of the show have made it a game to race Kenny Smith to the giant screen set up behind the desk, when the time comes for the former Houston Rockets guard to break down a play on the TV.
But this time, O’Neal took his antics a step further by giving the big board a hearty slap after reaching the pedestal, prompting it to glitch and break.
The overzealous strike from O’Neal started a roar of laughter in the panel as this tomfoolery was nothing new from the Hall of Famer. Several attempts were made to fix the screen. But eventually, the crew gave up on the matter and continued to discuss the game on the broken board.
SHAQ BROKE THE BIG BOARD pic.twitter.com/sb7EbxrPDx
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) December 11, 2024
Racing to the big board has become a tradition for Kenny Smith and Barkley. The smaller and quicker Smith has been victorious more often than not in these races, but he couldn’t stand against Shaq’s ‘destruction’ on Tuesday.
Had another member of the crew pulled the stunt, maybe the screen would have come out of the incident unharmed. But surviving a full-blooded blow from Shaq is too much to handle for most products. The broken backboards from Shaq’s early days can testify to that.
“I’ve broken about 10 backboards…one time the shot clock fell and hit me in the head. Since I was in the arena, I had to play it off like it didn’t hurt, but when I got back to the locker room I was like, ‘I need some icy hot or something.'” Shaq shared during his 2017 appearance on The Tonight Show.
The legendary center isn’t shattering backboards anymore, but his recent mischief on Inside the NBA shows how Shaq’s antics will always be a part of who he is.
