Four-time NBA champion Shaquille O’Neal didn’t have a good day at the office on Tuesday, March 11.
The basketball legend got several facts wrong about the Detroit Pistons while analyzing the team’s 123-103 win over the Washington Wizards, and fans didn’t waste a minute calling him out over the incident.
Shaquille O’Neal Criticized By Fans Over Factual Mistakes
O’Neal made factual errors on two shows over Tuesday. He first appeared on Adam Lefkoe’s The Big Podcast and began criticizing the Pistons, arguing that the team was “boring” to watch.
“Bro stop it. They’re (Pistons) boring too. Bro the (expletive) are four games under .500,” O’Neal said about the Pistons.
O’Neal was wrong about Detroit being “four games under .500,” and despite being corrected that they were six games over .500, the TNT analyst doubled down instead.
“You want to brag about a team that’s 32-26? Stop it. That’s not success. 40-20. We talked about it. Bro, Detroit Pistons ain’t winning no [expletive] championship. Stop it.”
Shaq on watching the Detroit Pistons right now
“Bro stop it they’re boring too they aren’t winning a championship”
— Pistons Talk (@Pistons__Talk) March 11, 2025
O’Neal then appeared on Tuesday’s TNT NBA postgame show analyzing the Pistons’ 123-103 win and unintentionally revealed that he was not aware of who currently coaches Detroit.
“You said something very interesting about Cade Cunningham. Great player now at this stage and plays at his own pace. Anybody that can consistently play at their own pace and put up numbers is a great player. I like the way he’s playing. I like what Chauncey [Billups] is doing,” he said.
Here's Shaq congratulating Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups on turning the Detroit Pistons around. 👍 pic.twitter.com/roe6qnGaKE
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 12, 2025
Candace Parker then made fun of the Lakers legend for not knowing about the Pistons coach – J.B. Bickerstaff – in the moment. Billups, meanwhile, is coaching the Portland Trail Blazers. But he argued that he didn’t watch Detroit. How, then, could he analyze the Pistons game, asked fans as they ripped O’Neal for his factual inaccuracy.
“NBA coverage is a joke,” one fan announced.
NBA coverage is a joke https://t.co/9onERTIW38
— Jaden Gaines (@JSG3_) March 12, 2025
One fan mocked O’Neal and TNT over their last agreed-upon salary of $15 million annually: “Reminder. 15 million a year this man makes for these takes.”
Reminder. 15 million a year this man makes for these takes
— Nick (@ChubbyChub216) March 12, 2025
Here are some reactions:
“99% of NBA analysts don’t watch the games. They’re trash but they’ll blame Bron, Steph and KD,” one user noted.
“He only watches the NBA when he is paid to, clearly,” wrote another user.
“Pathetic and embarrassing. NBA players and vets hate on the game and don’t even watch it. Hating just to hate,” another fan noted.
The Pistons have finished with the worst record in the NBA over the past two seasons but have made a big turnaround this season and are 37-29 so far. While O’Neal may be counting them out of the race for the title, Detroit currently holds a playoff spot, standing sixth in the Eastern Conference.