Stephen A. Smith did his best to play Switzerland after Shaquille O’Neal called for help in fueling his beef with Shannon Sharpe.
Last week, Sharpe accused Shaq of being jealous after he told NBA MVP Nikola Jokić he didn’t deserve the award on live TV. Shaq fired back with something along the lines of ‘I’m not jealous, you’re jealous’ in a lengthy Instagram post, before usurping Drake and Kendrick Lamar by dropping a diss track of his own on Sharpe.
On the latest episode of The Stephen A. Smith Show, the First Take host weighed in on the feud, per Shaq’s request.
“Shannon Sharpe and the brothers at Nightcap irritated the one and only Shaquille O’Neal,” Smith said. “Shannon Sharpe said it’s about MVPs, because he knows Shaq should have had more than one. And then Shaq came out with the diss track.”
“It’s not bad,” Smith said after playing Shaq’s diss track on his podcast. “It’s nothing extreme, it’s nothing excessive. So, guess what ladies and gentlemen, ain’t much to say about that. Don’t act like there’s some war between Shannon and Shaq.”
We’re only acting like there’s some war between Shannon and Shaq because Shaq was acting like there’s some war between Shannon and Shaq. Sharpe’s criticism of O’Neal was justifiable and measured because it did seem a little petty of Shaq to tell Jokić he shouldn’t have been this season’s NBA MVP, his third in four years. Shaq meanwhile has always seemed bothered by the fact that winning just one league MVP softens his claim of being the most dominant big man ever.
“I got news for you, both of them are hall of famers, both of them are elite, both of them were champions,” Smith continued. “Shaq’s got four rings, Shannon’s got three. It’s a conversation that most of us have no business partaking in… I just wanted y’all to know about it because damnit, Shaq texted it to me on my phone and said, ‘Play it. Hell with all that, play that sh*t.’ That’s what he said. That’s why I brought it up.”
Shaq probably asked Smith to play the diss track because he’s attempting to keep this supposed beef with Sharpe alive. Again, it’s not us acting like there’s some war between Shaq and Sharpe, it’s Shaq acting like he’s in a war with Sharpe, which is why he asked Smith to weigh in on his podcast. But with Smith not taking the bait, and Sharpe seeming quick to move on, it might just be time for Shaq to call off the dogs.