Shaquille O'Neal serves up witty response to Anthony Miracola's bizarre accusations of TNT crew sabotaging his career
Shaquille O'Neal can get pretty vocal on social media, especially when he feels strongly about a subject. Interestingly, Anthony Miracola, Guinness World Record holder for most 3-pointers made, spoke on Gilbert Arenas' "Gil's Arena" podcast, where he accused TNT's "Inside the NBA" crew of damaging his reputation during a live studio 3-point shooting competition four years ago.
With Miracola missing every shot from beyond the arc, co-analyst Kenny Smith knocked down all his shots from deep effortlessly. However, Anthony Miracola told a different story, as the original agreement was to shoot free throws instead of 3-pointers, as his shot from deep wouldn't work within the studio's infrastructure.
Anthony Miracola remained strong in his feelings of being ambushed by the TNT crew, which garnered a response from the "Big Diesel" himself. Shaquille O'Neal edited the video clip by including meme clips between the comments made by Miracola.
"Ernie, Kenny and Chuck apologize," O'Neal posted. "But I don't lol."
Like Miracola, Shaquille O'Neal also clearly remembered what went down that day between Kenny Smith and the Guinness World Record holder. The LA Lakers legend wasn't having any of Miracola's excuses about his shot being off or the studio's flooring.
With how competitive NBA players are, especially past their playing days, Miracola had no notion of what he was getting himself into in his TNT appearance.
Shaquille O'Neal does shooting contest with son Shareef O'Neal
Speaking of shooting contests, Shaquille O'Neal engaged in one with his son, Shareef O'Neal. Shared on Taahirah O'Neal's Instagram story, the father and son tandem showcased their competitive sides at 3 a.m. on the basketball court outside their house.
Despite both being engaged seriously in the 3-point shooting contest, it remained a wholesome moment between Shaquille O'Neal and his son.
Originally, Shareef O'Neal went undrafted in the 2022 NBA draft before joining the NBA G League Ignite. He also joined the LA Lakers briefly during the 2022 Summer League but was unable to secure a contract for the regular season.
Shareef could have continued to improve his skill set back when he was still playing at the collegiate level but instead chose to grow as a basketball player with the NBA G League Ignite unit.
Speaking with ESPN's Myron Medcalf, Shareef was grateful for his father taking an understanding approach to his decision to leave LSU after playing two seasons for the university.
"Once we came to an agreement, he got on my side," Shareef O'Neal said. "He was like, 'You're my son. I'm going to support you no matter what.' He's helped me a lot through these past few months. I think it made us closer than ever. I feel like my whole family got even closer."
Shaquille O'Neal was one of the most impactful NBA rookies at the time he arrived in the league and never went back since then. Shareef has a different path ahead of him, which, luckily enough for him, has his father alongside him in full support.