The conflict between Kendrick Lamar and Drake has gone beyond hip-hop. In particular, it inspired Shaquille O’Neal to create a diss track against NFL legend and ESPN host Shannon Sharpe. I can imagine your surprised faces, but before moving on to the analysis of the song, we will tell you what the dispute between Shaq and Sharpe was about. It was the MVP award that was recently given to Nikola Jokic. Don’t worry, we’re talking about basketball!
The winner of the MVP vote is traditionally announced on Inside The NBA, where Shaquille is one of the hosts. The legendary big man was quick to express his disagreement with Jokic’s selection, although he did so in a respectful manner. When the studio contacted Nicola himself, O’Neal repeated his statement to his face.
Shaquille O’Neal in the NBA in the TNT studio
Photo: John W. McDonough/Getty Images
“I don’t like ruining people’s vacations, but I don’t agree with this choice. Congratulations Nikola, you are the best big man in the league. But in my opinion, Shay Gilgeous-Alexander deserved the award because Oklahoma finished first in the West. I often came second in MVP voting. You work for a whole season and then you realize you have to start over to win this award. Jokic, congratulations on the award, but I want to tell you directly that Shay deserved this award,” O’Neal said on NBA on TNT.
Jokic was not offended and responded quite appropriately: “We in Denver don’t judge anyone, everything is fine. That’s your opinion.”
Shannon Sharp (center) at the NightCap recording
Photo: Joe Scarnici/Getty Images
At this point, Shannon Sharp intervenes in the discussion. Let me explain who he is, because not everyone may be familiar with his NFL career. Sharpe is a legendary tight end from the 1990s and early 2000s who won two Super Bowls and was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame (which is harder than getting into the basketball Hall of Fame). . After finishing her playing career, Shannon began working as a television presenter, where she achieved success thanks to his charisma. Here’s what she had to say about Shaq’s comments about MVP.
“I think somewhere deep inside Shaq there is envy. I understand that he has won four titles and three Finals MVPs, but deep down I know that he has not maximized his potential because no one mentions his name in discussions about who is the best basketball player in history. .
We call Shaquille when we talk about the greatest great men in history, and rightly so. We’ve never seen a player as dominant as O’Neal in prime time. But he deprived himself of many things because he didn’t take basketball seriously enough. He would win five MVPs and seven titles. And now you see a player like Jokic, who doesn’t have the same stats, but wins his third MVP in four seasons,” Sharp said on Nightcap.
Shaquille O’Neal
Photo: Paras Griffin/Getty Images
Shakil did not ignore Sharpe’s provocative statements and responded in detail on social media: “Did you think I supported Shay out of envy? She just shows how stupid you are and that you would do anything for views. Well, if so, here is a clickbait statement: If you are not in the top 10 in your profession, then you cannot say anything in my direction.
It seems like you’re more jealous than me. You don’t know my way of working, but you say you trained much more than me. But I’m still worth much more than you. How did this happen? I’m a superstar, you’re not. “I never wanted to be the best basketball player, I just wanted to be called the most dominant in history.”
Shannon Sharp
Photo: Cindy Ord/Getty Images
The next day, the correspondence skirmish continued: Sharpe not only did not back down from his words, but also threw more fuel.
“I never said I was on the same level of greatness as Shaq. But what I will say is that I got to where I am through hard work. O’Neal himself has said that he did not exercise or diet enough while he was a player. And remember how he constantly reminds everyone that he should have won the MVP the year Steve Nash took the award.
Shaq understands everything deep down. He will always be more famous and richer than me. But they will never say about me that I was lazy and betrayed myself. That’s all he wanted to say, big guy. “I don’t want to argue with you anymore,” Sharp said on the Nightcap podcast.
Shaquille O’Neal at a concert
Photo: L. Cohen/WireImage
However, Shakil wasn’t going to stop the argument and responded in a completely unexpected way: by recording a distortion song. Well, how unexpected: Shaquille already did it, even in relation to Kobe Bryant after the Lakers lost to Boston in the 2008 finals. If O’Neill knew what would happen in 2009 and 2010…
The minute and a half track consists of clippings of Sharpe’s statements about the beat. Only in the second half of the song does Shak appear with punchlines and puns that are difficult to translate into Russian. O’Neill claimed that Sharpe was “soft” and much smaller than him.
Shaq posted an audio recording with a note saying he was ending this confrontation and going on vacation to the Bahamas. In the comments, people didn’t really like the insult: “You yourself are soft; you are offended; It’s time for you to grow up, Shaq.” Will the conflict between two legends of American sports continue? Maybe. But I wouldn’t be surprised if in a year they end up on the same podcast and laughing about this situation together.
The Serbian from Denver is great:
Why wait for another Michael Jordan when you can enjoy the real Nikola Jokic?
