[**Shaquille O’Neal**](https://www.mediaite.com/tag/shaquille-oneal/) tried and failed at praising the Detroit Pistons’ by commending the work of a coach who isn’t even on the team.
On Tuesday’s episode of _Inside the NBA_, the panel was discussing the standings in the Eastern Conference and potential matchups in the playoffs. At the time, the Pistons were 37-29 and sat at sixth in the conference. The team has actually been one of the most remarkable turnaround stories in the league due to the fact that it won just 14 games all of last season.
While talking about the team, O’Neal commended the efforts of star player **Cade Cunningham** and coach **Chauncey Billups**.
“You said something very interesting about Cade,” O’Neal said. “Great player now at this stage. He plays at his own pace. Anybody that can consistently play at their own place and put up numbers, that’s a great player. I like the way he’s playing. I like what Chauncey is doing. Those guys play hard. My favorite player on that team is Isaiah Stewart — big body, hard guy, likes to knock people out, push people around”
The one problem with that praise is that Billups is not the head coach of the Pistons. Billups has actually been the coach of the Portland Trail Blazers since 2021. In fact, Billups hasn’t been a member of the Pistons organization since he played there in 2014. Detroit’s actual coach is **J.B. Bickerstaff**.
That mistake was rightfully called out by **Candace Parker**.
“No, I can’t let this go,” Parker said. “You like who? Who’s doing it? You said Chauncey?”
A confused O’Neal then asked, “Chauncey’s the coach, right?”
When the rest of the crew informed him of the error, O’Neal admitted to not even actually watching the team.
“First of all, I don’t watch Detroit,” he said. “How about that?”
The gaffe came a day after O’Neal was slammed on social media for his dismissive comments about the Pistons on his podcast.
Watch above via TNT