Shaquille O’Neal made one of the smoothest transitions from player to expert imaginable.
The Big Diesel felt almost tailor-made for his role on TNT. A born artist, Shaq is a perfect fit for the Inside the TNT crew and makes our basketball viewing experience more fun.
With great power definitely comes great responsibility. Years of superstardom on the court and now experience as an expert make Shaq a man of great standing in the basketball universe. Shaq’s comments are naturally often sought after in relation to any league update.
The latest hot news in NBA circles is definitely the Ime Udoka and trip planner scandal, something you can read all about here. The former NBA player just led the Boston Celtics to the NBA Finals, but finds himself suspended. Udoka’s suspension stems from a violation of the team’s code of conduct following a relationship he had with a member of the club’s staff.
Udoka had been engaged to The prince of Bel Air star Nia Long for over 7 years. Udoka cheating on Long had been trending ever since the news broke.
Shaq, a respected pundit who had also played for the Celtics, was asked to comment on the situation. But the great man refused to contribute to the speech.
Why was Shaquille O’Neal unavailable for comment on the Ime Udoka controversy?
Shaq refused to speak because he had once been in Udoka’s shoes. Shaq may not have broken NBA team codes of conduct, but infidelity was a sin he had committed.
In his athletic prime and with a constant influx of millions, the company of an NBA star is almost always in demand. Shaq wasn’t some random NBA star, either. He was “Superman”.
Power and recognition came with challenges, including the temptation of infidelity. And O’Neal gave in to the same thing, on his own. admission.
“I am going to withdraw from this conversation. I was a serial cheater. It would be crazy and blasphemous for me to come up here and say, ‘Boom, boom, bam.’ I can’t do that. I know these guys personally. I know they’re going through a lot because I’ve been through a lot.”
Shaq went on to talk about how his infidelity affected his family and children. O’Neal’s tone is full of regret and he feels his empathy for Ime under the circumstances.
“I’m never the type to go up here on my platform and pretend. I did it. I was the best at it and I wasn’t proud of it at all. I lost my family doing it. I lost valuable and important years of my children doing it. … I’m not that guy. I’m real with the situation.”
Shaq doesn’t want to have the high horse. The Big Diesel is as real as it gets, and not being available for comment under the circumstances is a commendable move.
With mainstream media credibility often under fire, Shaq provides a welcome change in pattern.
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