The uncles are fighting, y’all.
Source: Mike Coppola/Mat Hayward/ / Getty
Shaquille O’Neal went back to his rap roots to take aim at Club Shay Shay host Shannon Sharpe. “Oh no Shannon Sharpe, man, ya way beneath me,” the five-time NBA champion said in a new diss track. “You are not in my spot, you are like a pee wee.” Mmmm. Ok.
The two former athletes ended up in a war of words over O’Neal’s comments to Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic.
“Joker as the president of the Big Man Alliance – you are the vice president of the Big Man Alliance – you know I love you. The best player in the league, I want to congratulate you,” O’Neal told Jokic during TNT’s Inside The NBA. “I want you to hear it from me first, I thought SGA should have been the MVP. That’s no disrespect to you, but congratulations.”
The Hall of Famer’s comments were seen as direct by some and disrespectful by others, including Sharpe.
Uncle Shannon did not take kindly to what he perceived as a little hateration and holleration in the dancerie.
“Shaq is never brought up in [GOAT conversations],” Sharpe said. “And I think a part of him is envious of that. If Shaq had had my work ethic, he’d have had 40,000 points.”
Both Sharpe and O’Neal both have all the accolades in their respective sports, but that didn’t keep them from getting into a little tussle over whose career highlights shine the brightest.
Shaq took to Instagram to fire back at Sharpe’s “jealousy” claims and took a few jabs at the four-time All-Pro and three-time Super Bowl champion for good measure.
“you took me sticking up for @shai as jealousy?? 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,” he said in a caption. “don’t forget i know what you did to get where you at. me jealous lol sounds like you jealous. i kno you tryna stay relevant by gossiping on your podcast.”
Whew, chile. Not Shaq calling Unc gossip girl.
In his defense, Sharpe did respond saying that he agreed with the sentiment but still believed that Shaq could have been better if he worked harder.
“I’ve never professed that I was as great as Shaq but what I will say is I got what I got because I worked my a** off. Now, Shaq has been the one that said that he didn’t work as hard, he didn’t train as hard, he didn’t eat as well as he should have,” Sharpe said. “Shaq is the one who anytime someone wins a MVP, he talks about how he should have been the MVP over Steve Nash. Now, you guys have heard me speak glowingly. I say ‘Travis Kelce is better tight end that I ever was’.”
Uncle Shannon‘s real issue seems to be that an old head shouldn’t be hating on the new class of great athletes. However, Shaq is paid to give his opinions on the new crop of NBA stars due to his job as an analyst.
