When the Oklahoma City Thunder took care of the Cleveland Cavaliers in a matchup between the NBA's two best teams last week, losing coach Kenny Atkinson likened OKC's defense to unleashing seven pit bulls out on the court. Which is illegal in the professional ranks because, in stark contrast to Air Bud, there's societal rules about dogs playing basketball.
On Inside the NBA Thursday night, Ernie Johnson attempted to use the colorful quote as a jumping-off point for Shaquille O'Neal bring out his impression of the human Pitbull, who is a decorated recording artist. But Johnson asked it in a strange way, wondering what seven pit bulls would look like seconds after bringing up the Atkinson line in which the coach was talking about dogs. It's okay if you're confused all of this because so was O'Neal, who dramatically got up out of his chair and chomped on the back of Kenny Smith's neck.
SHAQ DID THE WRONG PITBULL IMPRESSION 💀 pic.twitter.com/bdy0KcgJMR
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) January 17, 2025
Everyone on set lost it because it's very funny when a co-worker slobbers all over someone's nape while dramatically misunderstanding the assignment. Though, it cannot be stressed enough how much Shaq was set up to fail there. Which highlights his willingness to be the jester on one of the best studio shows on television.
Who knows what these guys will do next?
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Shaq Had the 'Inside the NBA' Crew Freaking Out With Hilariously Wrong Impersonation.
