Shaquille O'Neal’s comical retort to being left off Candace Parker's GOAT list: "Oh, so Shaq can't run?”
Candace Parker, Shaquille O'Neal, Jamal Crawford and Adam Lefkoe are covering the NBA’s Tuesday games on TNT. While they are not arguably as entertaining as the quartet of Shaq, Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith, the Tuesday crew has its moments. Before the slate of matchups started, an intriguing exchange happened between two of the co-hosts.
Parker answered one of the mailbags for NBA.com and named her all-time starting five. She had Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Steph Curry, LeBron James and Kevin Garnett. Conspicuously absent was none other than her co-host, the player who's considered by many to be the most dominant in league history.
Candace Parker tried to wiggle out of her choice by saying that it was made out of a “whim.” O'Neal contested why she chose Garnett over him when “KG” wasn’t even a center. The two-time WNBA MVP responded that “positionless basketball” is the trend and that Garnett doesn’t have to play that role.
The Las Vegas Aces star added that besides playing that type of basketball, her team would be running. O’Neal couldn’t almost believe what he was hearing and had to ask:
“Oh, so Shaq can’t run?”
Candace Parker said that Shaquille O'Neal could run but not for his entire career. She referred to “Orlando Shaq” as the player who could run up and down the court with ease. Parker went without saying that later versions of Shaq battled weight problems and weren’t as mobile as the one who had started his career with the Magic.
O’Neal has been known to be petty during arguments. He often pouts and sometimes gets heated on NBA on TNT when discussing basketball with Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith. When left out by Parker, he hilariously covered his eyes with a bond paper so that he didn’t have to look at the WNBA superstar.
It will be interesting to see if the three-time NBA Finals MVP will bring that issue back in later discussions with Parker.
Shaquille O'Neal already named his all-time starting five before Candace Parker did
In August last year, Shaquille O'Neal was asked to name his all-time starting five. The four-time time champ didn’t hesitate, so he must have probably thought about it for years now. He mentioned Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, LeBron James and “f**king me.”
Shaq’s list is a little different compared to what Candace Parker had. What the TNT co-hosts have in common are Jordan, Bryant and James. O’Neal wanted Magic instead of Curry and had himself playing center. Parker opted for Garnett in the middle to anchor, which she called “positionless basketball.”