“Excuse My French Young Lady”: 24 Years After Ugly Fight, Reebok President Shaquille O’Neal Spells Out Finger Smacking Catchphrase

Can any one of us yell ‘barbeque chicken alert’ at work and keep our dignity intact? Only if you’re a 7-foot giant with a personality bigger than your size. That gives Shaquille O’Neal the panache to make an unusual battle cry and own it. His funny catchphrase has stuck for years, even though many have been scratching their heads over it. 24 years after the most memorable example of the same, he’s now giving the delicious reason behind that on-brand Shaq catchphrase.

It perfectly complements his eternal love for his childhood staple chicken. Despite that sweet context, certain Big Diesel opponents were left hurting after that catchphrase.

Shaquille O’Neal warned you

There might have been many occasions when you’re watching Inside the NBA and heard the chant, “Barbeque chicken alert”. No, that was not Shaquille O’Neal ordering a work snack. That’s his signature phrase he utters whether there’s chicken around or not. While on Overtime, in his Shaq for President t-shirt, he finally gave the context for it.

“So barbeque chicken is a tasty, delightful meal, right? So when I see somebody that really can’t check me, which is everybody, I’m about to eat their a** up. I’m about to eat ’em real quick, like,” Shaq demonstrates his finger-smacking barbeque chicken savoring technique to illustrate how he will demolish his opponent. “Like some barbeque chicken. Like, you put this guy on me? Okay, ‘Barbeque Chicken Alert. I’m about to eat his a** up. Excuse my French, young lady.”

As his job as an analyst on TNT, Shaq usually throws a “barbeque chicken alert” when a center is dominating in the lower post. That kind of dominant play applied to him in his prime without a doubt.

One instance when he blurted “barbeque chicken alert” in the media was in 2009. After he scored 45 points for the Phoenix Suns, an almost 37 years old Shaq told the media, “I think I’m the only player who looks at each and every center in the league and says to myself, ‘That’s barbecued chicken down there.'”

The term coined by Shaq caught on pretty fast. Like the way he screams, “Birdman,” other pros have also taken to using “barbeque chicken” as a way of ‘eating up’ their opponents.

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A few months ago, Shaq referenced a screenshot going around about Joel Embiid being able to take him on. Shaq shaded the active pro and threw the #barbequechickenalert phrase in a tweet. He only calls it out now. In his prime, the alert would complement a technical foul for the giant.

That time Shaq ate up his opponents

Big Aristotle was one of the ‘Most Dominant Ever’ in NBA history. He’s so aware of it, his go-to sandwich at Big Chicken Shaq is the MDE. Rivals would try and fail to double-team Shaq, only to be picked clean like glazed chicken. The most iconic example of it was in 1999.

The Los Angeles Lakers played against the New York Knicks who chose not to waste time double-teaming the dominant center. Shaq took that as a sign of disrespect and took it out on Knicks’ Chris Dudley.

O’Neal dunked violently on Dudley, sending him tumbling off-court, and walked off like it was no big deal. Chris was infuriated enough to throw the ball at Shaq. Both got technicals for that altercation.

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This aggressive play is typical of Shaquille O’Neal’s entire career. All that childhood chicken binging prepared him to savor dominating his opponents. What do you think about this trademark Shaq style?