Inside the NBA came back from its holiday break with its best segment this week. It’s the first Shaqtin’ a Fool of 2024 with four frontrunners in outrageous moments of the week. LeBron James was in the running only to come a close second. Doesn’t mean the TNT crew will let him live it down.
Even King James has his slapstick moments. His latest Shaqtin’ a Fool notch was during the Lakers game against the Chicago Bulls. Before the Los Angeles Lakers lost 108-124, James did a behind-the-back pass. Now he’s made more than a few cool passes behind him throughout his career. This time though, there was not a single soul to complete the pass to and it went out of bounds.
The Internet enjoyed the hilarity and so did Shaquille O’Neal. He included it in the first 2024 edition of Shaqtin’ a Fool. The votes are in but James lost to Jalen Duren. But not without some extra help.
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The nifty editors of TNT virtually helped James complete that pass by adding Michael Jordan in the mix. Complete with the Flash’s (the DC speedster, not Dwyane Wade) scarlet effect, virtual MJ caught James’ behind-the-back pass, ran coast-to-coast, and made the dunk. The extra effect was very well received among the rest of the TNT crew.
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While he’s no Shaqtin a Fool MVP like JaVale McGee, James has had a few nomination-worthy moments over his career. He has at least two wins too. Fans too campaigned all Christmas to bring this faux pas to TNT’s attention for Shaqtin’ a Fool. But by a 1.3% margin, this week’s top honor goes to one Detroit Pistons star.
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Shaqtin a Fool’s First Winner of 2024
Killian Hayes’ clumsy cha-cha with the ball was last place. Klay Thompson’s “there’s no alley, there’s no oop,” no-look miss came in third. With 39.3% of the votes, LeBron James missed his chance to be the MVP. It was Jalen Duren with 40.6% who is this week’s Shaqtin a Fool MVP.
He ended an epic poster dunk on the Utah Jazz by unwittingly piggybacking Walker Kessler till both dropped down to the hardwood. With the wit of TNT and Shaq, he took his piggyback into the sunset.
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That rounded up this week’s Shaqtin’ a Fool by Shaquille O’Neal who’s soon going to be the first Orlando Magic player to have his jersey retired. Stay Shaqtin’ for next week’s nominees.