Back in January 2021, Shaquille O’Neal made one of his most memorable comments on TNT’s Inside The NBA. There, during a post-game interview with Christian Wood of the Houston Rockets, O’Neal said “I owe you an apology. I really wasn’t familiar with your game.”
Those lines from O’Neal spawned some attention at first, including Wood responding with “Oh, man, you’re a casual.” The Score then made a two-panel quote graphic of it later that day. But this really took off more than a year later. There, the image just of O’Neal’s comments began to be used in other contexts, including praising the Atlanta Braves’ Travis Demeritte and ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.
The meme has continued to spread since then. And on Friday’s NBA Today, ESPN NBA analyst Kendrick Perkins made his own version, using an “I was not familiar with his game” on the Indiana Pacers’ Myles Turner:
“I’ve got to show him love, Malika. I was not familiar with his game. I owe this man an apology because he’s a Texas boy. Born in Texas, Texas university legend, UT legend, Myles Turner, been putting on the clinic quietly. I know Tyrese Haliburton and all them get all the love, but look at what this man has been doing, seriously. … This man, Mr. Turner, my Texas boy, I’m sorry, I should have acknowledged you a little bit earlier than now.”
There seems to be some level of sincerity there in Perkins noting that he should have praised Turner earlier (which ties into discussions around network NBA coverage in particular too often focusing on storylines, specific teams and players, and style criticisms). And the Pacers certainly stand out as a team whose on-court success perhaps deserves more national discussion.
But at the same time, it’s quite funny to hear Perkins doing that literally with O’Neal’s famous line. Maybe that’s a reference, maybe it’s a shot. But this drew much less attention than O’Neal on Wood, so it’s unlikely this particular meme will see O’Neal replaced by Perkins just yet.