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10 Highlights of Shaq, JaVale McGee Feud

Written by Jeremy

TNT analyst Shaquille O’Neal and Golden State Warriors center JaVale McGee won’t be sharing an Uber any time soon.

The two hate each other after Shaq’s merciless taunting of McGee through the Inside the NBA segment Shaqtin’ a Fool.

Fed up with being featured on the segment for years, McGee has lashed out at Shaq and the show recently. The beef has supposedly died down, but, with no apologies, the tensions are still there and a flare-up could definitely happen in the future.

That said, let’s look at the top 10 moments from this feud.

1. Twitter War Erupts with Threats of Violence

We’ll get in to all of the things that led up to this point, but the highlight of McGee and O’Neal’s beef reached its peak following a Dr. Strange segment (see point #6) focused entirely on JaVale. Here’s a look at the war of tweets that erupted:

https://twitter.com/JaValeMcGee34/status/835027942262484992?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

https://twitter.com/JaValeMcGee34/status/835052415019708416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

2. Kevin Durant Defends McGee

Sticking up for his teammate, Warriors star Kevin Durant made sure to point out that Shaq wasn’t the perfect player either.

After talking about how hard McGee works, Durant dissed some of Shaq’s faults.

“Shaq was a shitty free throw shooter. He missed dunks. He air-balled free throws,” said Durant. “He couldn’t shoot outside the paint. He was bigger than everybody – he didn’t have no skills. But he was bigger and stronger than everybody. And he’s still a great player, but he had his flaws too.”

3. Shaq’s Mom Supposedly Ends Feud

Again, we don’t think that this feud will be entirely over. But according to The Undefeated, Shaq’s mom, Lucille, said that her son needed to quash the beef.

“It’s not funny anymore, seeing the things they’re saying to each other,” Lucille said from her Orlando home. “They need to squash this and move on.”

O’Neal backed up the story.

“My mama [said end it]. Just say Shaq’s mom called him, told him, ‘Stop this silliness. Leave him alone.’ So that’s the end of the beef,” said Shaq. “You won’t be hearing about it from my side anymore. Mama has spoken.”

4. McGee’s Mom Says Shaq Needs to be Fired from TNT

Both moms got into the act, with former WNBA player Pamela McGee accusing Shaq of cyber-bullying.

“He cyberbullied my son,” said Pamela. “Totally inappropriate. Shaquille needs to lose his job or be suspended. The NBA needs to make a stand.”

5. Warriors Ask Turner Sports to Intervene

Besides support from Durant, the whole team had his back when the Golden State organization went to Turner Sports and expressed concern over McGee’s frequent appearances on Shaqtin’ a Fool.

6. TNT Airs Dr. Strange Segment on McGee

On Feb. 23, 2017, Shaq and TNT aired a special Dr. Strange parody starring McGee’s various bloopers over the years.

While funny, this is also the fuse that lit the spark for the Twitter battle in highlight #1.

7. McGee Starts Appearing on Shaqtin’ a Fool Segments

When Shaqtin’ a Fool started, McGee was an immediate target, winning the MVP in 2011 and ’12. Here are some of his earliest moments from his Shaqtin’ a Fool appearances.

8. JaVale Calls Shaq “Old as Dirt”

During a 2013 interview with Inside the NBA, McGee let his displeasure with Shaqtin’ a Fool be known.

Not only did he dub it “Shaqtin’ a Coon” – indicating Shaq is cooning him – but he also labeled O’Neal a bully.

He ended the segment by saying that Shaq is “old as dirt.”

9. McGee Continues being a Target of Shaq

2011 was just the beginning as McGee became a regular in the Shaqtin’ a Fool segments. Here’s a compilation of McGee’s highlights:

10. Shaq Makes Fun of McGee’s Haircut

This feud went to another level in early 2017, when Shaq made fun of McGee’s haircut. The later then made another reference to Shaq cooning he and other players through the segment.