NBA fans were divided over Shaquille O’Neal’s decision to try to end his feud with Shannon Sharpe with a diss track.
The battle between the two Hall of Famers arose following O’Neal’s decision to publicly criticize the selection of Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic as NBA MVP over Oklahoma City Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
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On Wednesday, after his Inside The NBA colleague Charles Barkley announced Jokic’s win on air, the Nuggets star appeared virtually on the show to discuss his third such award.
O’Neal, however, began his conversation with Jokic by saying he thought Gilgeous-Alexander should have won the award.
“I want to congratulate you, but I want you to hear it from me first,” he said.
“I thought SGA should have been the MVP, that’s no disrespect to you, but congratulations.”
Former NFL star Sharpe later stated on his Nightcap podcast that he felt O’Neal’s comments stemmed from jealousy.
Sharpe also stated that O’Neal’s unique MVP title meant that, in his opinion, he did not belong in the GOAT conversation.
Furthermore, Sharpe also commented that “if he had my work ethic he would have 40,000 points.”
O’Neal wasted no time in responding to Instagram, claiming he was simply “defending” Gilgeous-Alexander in the caption of a screenshot from an article that ranked Sharpe 51st on a list of the 100 best NFL characters.
“It shows how smart you are and how you say anything to get clicks.
“So here’s some clickbaits for you. If you’re not ranked in the top ten in your profession, you can’t talk about me.”
Then, on Friday, O’Neal tried to put an end to the feud by sharing a diss track on Instagram.
Starting with a soundbite from the aforementioned Nightcap podcast, O’Neal responded brutally to Sharpe’s comments.
“You think you could say something about Diesel and he wouldn’t respond. You need to have a G14 rating,” he said.
“Oh no, Shannon Sharpe, man, you’re way beneath me. His whole behavior is faker than new rapper Beefy
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“You’re soft before you fly, you’d rather tweet me.
“I was in three different cars when you were three feet tall. All I see are dollar signs, they coming in 3D.
“Keep it hot, there’s no getting around my degrees. You’re not in my shoes, you’re like a peewee.
“He calls me Rocky the same way I call him RiRi. I get to the green bag, I don’t mean the lawn mower.
“Jet flying, driving abroad, better shopping, torrential rain.”
Inside the future of the NBA?
The operation of the NBA on TNT Sports is in doubt due to the NBA’s broadcast agreements.
The Emmy-winning sports show is a fan favorite thanks to the likes of Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley.
But TNT’s broadcast deal with the NBA ends after next season and NBC is preparing a bid to take over those rights.
If TNT loses its NBA package, it will raise questions about the popular Inside the NBA.
One solution could be to recreate the show on another network, which would snatch the rights from the NBA.
O’Neal’s track spread like wildfire on social media, drawing a variety of responses.
“Why are you so insecure?” one fan asked.
“Bro, are you a grown man???? How can you be so soft?” a second said.
“This man is incredible,” commented another.
While a fourth joked: “Shaq won’t let Drake and Kendrick have fun.”
It appears this is the last thing O’Neal will say about the fight, including in the caption of his track: “I love you, now I’m done with this.
“I’ll be in the birthplace of the Bahamas if anyone needs me.”
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
