“Would’ve Put Him on the Ground”: Shaquille O’Neal Threatens Jayson Tatum as Dunk Hypothetical Gets Him Riled Up on Live TV

Things got fierce when Jayson Tatum arrived in Studio J. Tatum has had some posterizing moments including dunking on LeBron James. But would he be able to take on the most disrespectful dunker in NBA history? In Shaquille O’Neal’s words, “no.” Candace Parker did try to put the Celtics star on the spot with Shaq right there by asking, “would you have tried Shaq coming down on the lane?” 

Tatum hardly gets a word in before Shaq answers for him. “I love his mom, I love his dad, I love this little man. But he knows I would’ve put him on the ground.” Sound that foghorn. Though Jamal Crawford also agreed with Shaq, Tatum countered, “I would’ve tried.” So Shaq had to remind JT and Candace that he’s been dunked on only twice in his career and there’s a reason for that. That reason probably is that Tatum is neither Michael Jordan nor Derrick Coleman.

O’Neal, who volunteers himself as a prop for the All-Star Weekend’s Slam Dunk contest, counts only two (sometimes three if he’s in the mood to include Tim Perry) incidents in his entire career where he was out-dunked. The first person to accomplish that was Coleman and that too in Shaq’s hometown of New Jersey.

The then-New Jersey Nets great and left-handed “beast” dunked on Shaq and gave him a bit of elbow. O’Neal claimed he didn’t even know what happened till the ball hit him in the face. He was embarrassed in front of his parents in the stands. He got back at him the next time the Nets played against Orlando by dunking on them and breaking the backboard while he was at it. So Shaq strongly advises Tatum to not even try dunking on him if he doesn’t want to suffer the same fate.

Shaq hasn’t moved on from the Michael Jordan poster

While in the TNT studio, Tatum put Shaq’s teammate, Kobe Bryant as his personal GOAT. But in 2023, he named Michael Jordan as his GOAT. O’Neal counted MJ as his own fave given their numerous clashes. O’Neal doesn’t count “dunk-bys” but actual head-to-head battles at the rim as his top 3 dunks on him.

Among the many “dunk-bys” Jordan had on Shaq, the biggest poster was when the fresh-out-of-retirement Jordan clashed with former teammate Horace Grant in the Orlando uniform at the Eastern Conference Finals. Jordan blew past the Magic guard and threw down a monster dunk on Shaq and Grant.

Shaquille O’Neal won that ECF but that dunk has seared itself in his memory. No one in a career of 19 seasons has come close to posterizing Shaq in his own opinion.

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