Longtime NBA center Shaquille O'Neal has been subject to criticism from fans over the years for small mistakes he's made during broadcasts. Many have wondered whether O'Neal watches the basketball games that he gets paid to talk about.
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While nobody is questioning his basketball knowledge, O'Neal has tended to make questionable comments at different times. Things seemed to come to light during a recent broadcast on the TNT postgame show earlier this week.
O'Neal was discussing the turnaround of the Detroit Pistons this season and seemed to be confused as to who the head coach was. The longtime center iterated that Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups was the one running the show in Detroit.
"Cade Cunningham — a great player now, he plays at his own pace. Anybody that can consistently play at their own pace and put up numbers is a great player," O'Neal said of Detroit's All-Star guard. "I like the way he's playing. I like what Chauncey's doing. Those guys play hard."
While he did praise the Pistons for their strong year, this mistake went viral.
This type of mistake didn't go unnoticed as several of his colleagues pushed back on it. Both Vince Carter and Candace Parker called O'Neal out for his mistake but the former MVP then admitted to not even watching the Pistons.
"First of all, I don't watch Detroit. How about that, boo-boo?" the 2000 NBA MVP said, looking directly at Lefkoe. "I messed up. I made a mistake."
The type of error is unfortunate but shows that O'Neal sometimes doesn't watch the games that he talks about. The Pistons have been one of the better stories all season and they are in line to return to the postseason.
Detroit currently sits in the No. 6 spot in the Eastern Conference standings, holding a record of 37-29 for the year. This Pistons team has taken a massive step forward and they have been one of the more fun teams to watch this season.
The NBA has had viewership issues all year long and part of this is due to the mistakes made like O'Neal's. The fans don't want the people they listen to admitting to not watching teams, especially ones who are directly in the playoff hunt.
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This story was originally published March 13, 2025 at 12:59 PM.