After spending five years at or near the bottom of the standings, the Detroit Pistons are a playoff team and might even get to host a first-round series in the Motor City if they can continue to climb up the standings. Cade Cunningham has arrived as a top ten player in the NBA after years of waiting, and the new front office has done an excellent job surrounding him with complementary talent.
However, not everyone is bought in on the Pistons' success, which makes sense. They are a very young and unproven team who is expected to get bounced in the first round of the playoffs, although they are finally on the rise.
Shaquille O'Neal is known for being disrespectful to the stars of today, but a recent take of his should be enough for him to be fired from television.
While praising the Pistons, O'Neal issued a colossal error.
"I like what Chauncey [Billups] is doing, my favorite player on that team is Isaiah Stewart, big body, hard guy, likes to knock people out push people away," said Shaquille O'Neal on TNT.
The first mistake is clear: Billups coaches the Portland Trail Blazers, not the Pistons, despite being a legendary player in Detroit.
"Chauncey's the coach, right?" asked Shaq while doubling down. "I don't watch Detroit, how about that."
Earlier this week, O'Neal disrespected the Pistons on a podcast, calling them boring while making it clear he has no idea that they are even above .500 on the season.
"Kudos to JB Bickerstaff, I got them mixed up," he said after Candace Parker corrected him.
Related: Proposed Offseason Pistons-Spurs Trade Would Send 'Elite Rim Protector' to San Antonio
On top of forgetting who the coach is, he also gave credit to Stewart, which is not a bad thing, but it still speaks to his lack of knowledge.
This season, Stewart is playing a career-low 19 minutes a game and has been buried on the depth chart behind Jalen Duren, who is more of a traditional center. It's very possible that O'Neal got Duren and Stewart mixed up, as he clearly has no frame of reference when it comes to Detroit Basketball.
Check out the All Pistons homepage for more news, analysis, and must-read articles.
Related: Pistons Open Title Window In Recently Proposed Mock Trade
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This story was originally published March 12, 2025 at 2:20 PM.
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