In the community of NBA analysts, things are currently getting a little heated. It looks that Shannon Sharpe and Shaquille O’Neal got into a small altercation with each other, seemingly out of the blue. Strangely enough, it all began when superstar Nikola Jokić of the Denver Nuggets won the 2024 NBA MVP title.
When Shaq was tasked with awarding the winner, he somewhat deviated from the plan. Speaking about his two rejections prior to deciding to honor Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at the presentation, he remarked,
“You know I love you [Nikola Jokić], you’re the best player in the league… I wanted you to hear it from me first… I thought SGA [Shai Gilgeous-Alexander] should’ve been the MVP!”
"You're the best player in the league… I thought SGA should've been the MVP"
Shaq told Jokić he's best player in league but thought SGA should have won MVP 👀 pic.twitter.com/HM8lL0qtje
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 9, 2024
Shaq was obviously pleased with Jokic’s admirable decision to dismiss it with a lighthearted jest after hearing it. But as one might anticipate, O’Neal’s actions infuriated a lot of people.
Numerous responses have been made to this, but they all seem to come down to the same thing: there’s nothing wrong with the opinion, but why say it at that particular moment? Shannon Sharpe seemed to concur with this idea as well. But whereas almost everyone else was rather direct in their criticism, the 55-year-old approached the entire situation in a somewhat different way.
He chose to enter O’Neal’s NBA career, claiming that he was a slacker back then and that he is now envious since “The Joker” has won the MVP award twice as many times as he has.
Shannon Sharpe talks Shaquille O’Neal’s status in game and gets blasted by the big man
He went on to say that Shaq ought to have been included in the GOAT discussion but lacked the conviction to do so. He said,
“He might never admit this, but I think Shaq see these guys these MVPs have him a little envious… I understand Shaq got four titles, three finals MVPs… but Shaq know deep down that we should be having a discussion for GOAT Shaq!”
Shannon Sharpe appears to have poked the bear with this little take. Indeed, the bear displayed its ferocious fangs. He then utilized them to share a message on Instagram that showed how angry he was.
“you took me sticking up @shai ask jealousy of joker. shows how smart you are and how you say anything to get clicks. so here’s some click bait for you. if you ain’t ranked in the top ten in your profession , then you can’t speak on Me… i kno you tryna stay relevant by gossiping on your podcast… u don’t kno my work ethic. but according i work less than you but im worth more than you. make it make sense… #g14classification i have it, you don’t, not in my profession. and your goat debate , never wanted to be the goat i wanted to be who you should greet me as THE MOST DOMINANT EVER…”
Shaquille O’Neal doubles down on his trolling
In closing, he wrote, “G 14 Classification I Have it you don’t, not in my profession,” expressing his desire to be remembered as the Most Dominant of All Time rather than the Greatest of All Time.
Shaq would later write yet another post in which he revealed his initial rationale for responding.
“the daddy don’t usually respond but i got time today.”
To be honest, this circumstance seems to have been given a beautiful shade of gray. Without a doubt, Shaquille O’Neal erred when he brought up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Nikola Jokic’s winning play. It also didn’t help that he had a brief outburst about how he ought to have won two more MVP awards in his career.
Shannon Sharpe isn’t in the top 50 in his sport (NFL), hence he doesn’t have the right to talk about his career, according to the big caption. He went on to explain that he was disgusted by the idea that he was jealous before practically stomping on him by claiming that he puts in more effort and makes more money than him.