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The ‘Inside the NBA’ show on NBA on TNT broadcast is every fan’s favorite basketball show. The iconic quartet of Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny “The Jet” Smith, and Shaquille O’Neal is legendary. Ernie Johnson has been TNT’s NBA studio host since the 1990?1991 season. Sir Charles and The Jet joined the show after some time. Shaq was the latest one to join when he came on board in July 2011.

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When Shaq came on board, he also introduced a new segment known as “Shaqtin’ a Fool”. It is a blooper segment started by O’Neal when he joined the show in 2011 that became popular.

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The segment regularly features NBA players and also includes, but is not limited to, coaches, referees, fans, mascots, and other arena employees. The segment is just for the gags, but sometimes things take a different turn too.

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Shaq-JaVale’s feud

JaVale McGee was a regular in the funny segment. But after a point of time, he took offense to it and called out Shaq. It then led to an all-out Twitter beef with each calling the other names and things turned for worse. O’Neal doubled down on McGee during the segment and the feud continued before eventually ending. JaVale’s then-teammate, Kevin Durant, was asked to comment on the feud and he took his teammate’s side.

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Kevin said, “JaVale, he works extremely hard. He’s come in here and done so much for us as a player. He only wants to be respected. Just like anybody else. I understand that Shaq works for a company that wants him to do that type of stuff. Make fun of players. It’s cool and funny but when you keep doing it time and time again. And then the guy actually disagrees with you, and you threaten him. I ain’t know cops could threaten civilians like that.”

Shaq responded to KD by saying that he should mind his own business. But he also acknowledged Durant for looking out for his teammate. Then things finally ended after the mothers of both O’Neal and McGee stepped in.

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Kevin Durant with the Warriors

Durant‘s time with the Warriors was a successful one. He joined the Warriors in the summer of 2016. The Warriors then had just lost the 2016 NBA Finals to the Cleveland Cavaliers. They had become the first team ever to lose an NBA Finals after being up 3-1.

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Kevin immediately tilted the scales in favor of the Warriors. They won back-to-back titles and for his efforts, KD won two NBA Finals MVPs.

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During the 2019 playoff run, Durant injured himself. When he tried to return for the Finals, he suffered an Achilles injury that would keep him out indefinitely. Durant left the Warriors in 2019 and joined the Brooklyn Nets.

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Let us know in the comments below your favorite Durant memory.

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Written by

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Nirjhar Sharma

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Nirjhar Sharma is an NBA writer at EssentiallySports. He is a sports enthusiast who follows all major sports and has been watching the NBA for the past 7 years now. A firm believer in the 'Greek Freak' being the best player in the league right now, he believes that the Bucks are primed for another championship run unless the injury bug bites them. A Business Economics graduate from the University of Delhi, Nirjhar eventually dreams of working with a sports franchise either in India or abroad in a management role. He is also a die-hard MS Dhoni and Roger Federer fan and is of the opinion that Josh Allen is currently the best QB in the NFL.

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Bagavathi Eswaran

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