Shaquille O’Neal is literally one of the NBA’s biggest ambassadors, but he’ll only watch the Finals if he’s getting paid to do so.
O’Neal officially entered summer vacation mode after Game 2 of the NBA Finals Sunday night and he has no interest in tuning in to see how the rest of the series plays out.
Despite emphatically signing off TNT for the final time earlier this month, NBA TV commissioned O’Neal and Kenny Smith to work on their pre and postgame coverage of the Finals for Games 1 and 2. Charles Barkley will join the show for Games 3 and 4. And when the buzzer sounded on the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 123-107 win over the Indiana Pacers Sunday night, O’Neal was mentally in the Caribbean.
“Now we have a series. I won’t even be watching…I’m gonna be in the Bahamas.” – Shaq reacts to OKC beating the Pacers in Game 2 pic.twitter.com/gVdbLlsXIE
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 9, 2025
“Indiana stole one. I’m just glad it’s not the old format, that 2-3-2. Remember that format? That 2-3-2? So now we have a series. I won’t even be watching,” O’Neal said. “I’m gonna be in the Bahamas.”
Kenny Smith quickly reminded Shaq that you can watch ESPN and ABC from the Bahamas, with Chris Miles chiming in to note, “NBA TV is also on in the Bahamas.”
“Not in the ocean,” O’Neal insisted before taking a big sip from his clear plastic cup while giving the ice a good swirl and saying, “This ain’t water.”
The Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers aren’t the most compelling franchises nationally, but the NBA is undoubtedly hoping for a long series and splitting the first two games helps. But if they’re rooting for a long series, the NBA must be banking on having some fans who are more loyal than Shaq. Because Shaq is fine watching the NBA Finals when he’s drinking a cocktail and getting paid to do it, but without that incentive, he’s checking out.
The NBA is proud to boast having O’Neal and Charles Barkley as analysts and ambassadors. It’s part of the reason why there has been so much coverage on the future of Inside the NBA. But O’Neal and Barkley routinely make it seem like they’re not actually fans of the NBA.