ICYMI: "You gave me the wrong information!" - Shaquille O'Neal's hilarious attempt to speak in Serbian with Nikola Jokic
Shaquille O'Neal made a hilarious attempt to speak in Serbian with Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic.
O'Neal is not only one of the best big men to play the game, but he's also one of the most entertaining players ever. His personality translates well for his job as an analyst for "Inside the NBA" on TNT.
On Tuesday's "NBA on TNT" postgame show, O'Neal tried to speak in Serbian while interviewing the reigning MVP. The four-time NBA champion said:
"Sjajna igra velika dušo" to Jokic, which translates to "Great game, Big Soul."
O'Neal was trying to say "Big Honey," which is one of Jokic's nicknames that also includes "The Joker," "Cookie Monster," "Yoke" and "Big Tipper." After his blunder, the LA Lakers legend pointed to someone at the studio, calling him out for giving him the wrong translation.
"Sorry about that. Hey, man. You gave me the wrong information ... Thank you, brother. Great game," O'Neal said.
Jokic had another great game for the Nuggets (43-30) on Tuesday night. He had 30 points, 14 rebounds and six assists in Denver's 127-115 win over the LA Clippers at the Ball Arena. The victory ended the Nuggets' two-game skid. They remain in a tight race for the sixth spot in the Western Conference with the Minnesota Timberwolves (42-31).
O'Neal ended the interview by asking Jokic if he's focused on winning back-to-back MVPs. "The Joker" noted that he does not care about individual awards and that he's only focused on winning the championship.
"I mean, to be honest, no.," said Jokic. "Just because it's individual... I'd rather be remembered as that I've been a champion. I was a really good player, team player so, and everybody loved to play with me. I'm gonna take that more than the MVP trophy," he said.
Shaquille O'Neal speaking other languages
Tuesday's blunder was not the first time Shaquille O'Neal tried speaking a different language. It's also not the first time he spoke Serbian while talking with Jokic.
In the video below, you can see O'Neal trying his best last year, but Jokic's confused look said it all:
.@SHAQ had to show off his Serbian to Jokic 😂 https://t.co/xCe744PMIU
During the 2020 NBA playoffs inside the bubble, Shaquille O'Neal also tried speaking Greek while talking with Giannis Antetokounmpo. Just like with Jokic, Antetokounmpo wore a confused look in his face before realizing that O'Neal was telling him "Congratulations."
🤣.@SHAQ might have Giannis’ last name down, but his Greek still needs some work 😅🤣 https://t.co/MHXIuKtQwC
As if Serbian and Greek were not hard enough, Shaquille O'Neal was at it again. In the same NBA playoffs inside the bubble, O'Neal tried to speak Slovenian with Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic. Instead of getting help from an actual translator, O'Neal used his phone to tell Doncic "Good luck" in Slovenian.
.@SHAQ tried translating a message in Slovenian to @luka7doncic 😂 https://t.co/pBuHvDElqP
With the NBA becoming more global every year, more and more international players have entered the league.
It presents O'Neal with more opportunities to speak different languages. He could try to speak French with Joel Embiid, Finnish with Lauri Markkanen, Hebrew with Deni Avdija, Latvian with Kristaps Porzingis and Turkish with Alperen Sengun.