New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson just might be playing the best all-around basketball of his career, but it means little-to-nothing for TNT analyst Shaquille O'Neal.
After Williamson led the Pelicans to a 127-120 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday night with 22 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds, O'Neal sounded off.
"You're giving him props for that? I need more," O'Neal said. "Yeah, I need 26, 27 [points]. I demand from my franchise player, you're paying the max to- don't give props for 20 points. Anybody can get 20 points now."
Williamson had 12 points going into the fourth quarter. The Clippers defense prevented him from scoring, so he focused more on distributing the ball. He ended the night with a career-high 12 assists.
"In one sentence, you said 'The up-and-down Pelicans,' I can't have that with my franchise player," O'Neal said. "If they were in third, fourth place and he had those numbers, then I'd be impressed, but I'm not impressed with that.
"You need to do more, Zion. I love you."
Shaq slams Zionβs 22-10-12 performance
"You giving him props for that? I need more. Anybody can get 20 points now. That's not good enough. I'm not impressed by that"π
(h/t @ohnohedidnt24 ) pic.twitter.com/oJENda9hH5
β NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) March 12, 2025
Williamson finished with the second triple-double of his career, both occurring within the past two weeks. In 19 NBA seasons, O'Neal recorded two triple doubles in his career.
The Pelicans have the second-worst record in the Western Conference at 18-48. New Orleans has dealt with multiple injuries all season to every member of its rotation, most notably from guard Dejounte Murray, who only played 31 games this season before he ruptured his right Achilles tendon, which ended his season on Jan. 31.
"The season hasn't gone the way we've wanted it to," Williamson said, "but that doesn't mean that we can't build into something next year. Building better habits, consistency ... how we lock into scouting report. How we go about overall team, building onto that and when the summer comes, just sticking together and by time the season starts, we're locked in and ready to go."
O'Neal also went viral on Tuesday night when co-analyst Candace Parker called him out after he said Chauncey Billups coaches the Detroit Pistons. J.B. Bickerstaff is the head coach of the Detroit Pistons. Billups, a former long-time point guard for the Pistons, is the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers.
"First of all, I don't watch Detroit," O'Neal said. "How about that, boo boo? I made a mistake."
Here's Shaq congratulating Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups on turning the Detroit Pistons around. π pic.twitter.com/roe6qnGaKE
β Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 12, 2025