Shaquille O’Neal might be 7’1 and one of the most intimidating NBA players of all time, but even he is wise enough to always listen to his mom. Last week Shaq got into some extremely NSFW beef with Warriors forward JaVale McGee, which prompted many to think this would last for the rest of the season — but mom stepped in.
Shaq is ending his beef with JaVale McGee because his mom told him to
Photo by Erika Goldring/Getty Images for American Express
James Dator has been covering a wide range of sports for SB Nation for over a decade, with a special focus on the NFL.
On Sunday night Shaq confirmed to The Undefeated that he doesn’t have plans to keep fighting with McGee, saying:
“I have orders from the top to leave it alone,”
In this case “the top” only refers to one, very important person — Lucille O’Neal, Shaq’s mom.
“My mama. Just say Shaq’s mom called him, told him, ‘Stop this silliness. Leave him alone.’ So that’s the end of the beef. You won’t be hearing about it from my side anymore. Mama has spoken.”
What began as one of O’Neal’s typical “Shaqting a Fool” segments escalated last week when McGee and O’Neal fought on Twitter following the segment airing. The two went back-and-forth for much of a night, and it continued into Friday morning.
The almost-ceaseless mocking of McGee even got to his Warriors’ teammates. Kevin Durant jumped into the fray and picked his own fight with the former NBA superstar.
“Shaq was a shitty free throw shooter, he missed dunks. He airballed free throws. He couldn’t shoot outside the paint. He was bigger than everybody, didn’t have no skill. But he was bigger and stronger than everybody, and he’s still a great player, but you had your flaws too as a player.”
Thankfully Shaq’s mom put an end to this before it got worse.
