During a recent episode of NBA on TNT, basketball legends, Candace Parker, Jamal Crawford, and Shaquille O’Neal participated in a fun segment that featured a rendition of the popular show ‘Jeopardy!’. The game show segment was filled with humor and banter between the contestants. But the moment that stood out was Shaq’s debut victory in the game of Connecting Clues.
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It is important to remember that Shaq hadn’t won a segment against his fellow analysts going into the contest. During the game, just like many had expected, Shaq wasn’t fairing well, failing to score a single point till the last question. On the other hand, Parker stood at 300 points and JCrossover stood at 100.
As the last question rolled around, Shaq knew it was now or never. Luckily for him, the last question was worth 500 points, enough for the big man to swoop in and take first place against his peers.
Asking the final question, host Adam Lefkoe said, “These two clues will connect to make the name of a Dallas Mavericks big man. Shaq’s middle name and Sherlock’s last name.”
Listening to the question, Shaq quickly responded “Rashaun Holmes”. Surprisingly enough, the quick answer from Shaq turned out to be correct, which led to him being awarded 500 points. As a result, he was also declared the winner of the competition.
Both Candace Parker and Jamal Crawford were in complete disbelief, as Shaq proceeded to break into a dance in the middle of the show. Even though it was just a game of Connecting Clues, the trio sure did make things intensely competitive. After Shaq’s win, Crawford protested the outcome, claiming that Shaq had said ‘Rashaun Holmes’ when the Mavericks player is named ‘Richaun Holmes’. However, Lefkoe paid no heed to his protests.
During Shaq’s dance, Parker decided to express her frustration by breaking Shaq’s nameplate from the show, “Blacker than Berry”, in half. She then threw one piece of the board at Crawford and walked off the set. Parker’s disappointment wasn’t surprising. She was leading the contest by 200 points before the last question was asked.
As for Shaq, he continued to dance to his victory song. On the other hand, Parker made her disappointment known, telling Adam Lefkoe and the TNT crew, “Get out of here, every year y’all cheat. I am done playing games with y’all.”
Shaquille O’Neal had his Candace Parker moment as well
Shaquille O’Neal and trivia games don’t go so well together, even if it’s about basketball. During another recent segment of ‘Jeopardy!’ on NBA on TNT, analysts Candace Parker, Shaquille O’Neal, and Jamal Crawford battled it out, as Shaq did nothing more than embarrass himself on national television.
During the game, Shaq falsely proclaimed that Mercury had its own asteroids, which made everyone realize that general knowledge is not the big fella’s forte. But that wasn’t all, as Crawford would go on to dominate the field, answering very complex questions with ease.
During the final set of questions, both Shaq and Crawford pressed the button at the same time, but Lefkoe chose to award Crawford the opportunity to answer. In response, Shaquille O’Neal started smashing his board against his podium, shattering the piece of stationary in seconds.
But unlike Charles Barkley, Shaq does have his “moments of glory”. During a 2020 “Neat-O-Stat” trivia night special, the TNT crew was left completely dumbfounded when Shaq took home the first place. After the victory, Charles told his co-hosts, “We lost to dum-dum.”
But as expected, Shaq’s victory didn’t go over without a complaint, as both Kenny and the Chuckster argued with Ernie Johnson over the scorekeeping.
