A certain big man told Shaq to not mention his name. The founder of the Big Man Alliance not only obliged, he vowed to never talk about any big man. In fact, MDE Big Aristotle Shaquille O’Neal decided to retire the Big Man Alliance. His vow of no big-manism lasted only a day. The next day after his declaration on The Big Podcast, Shaq was back to talking about another big man on the TNT Tuesday premiere. The second week into TNT Tuesday’s 2025 run, O’Neal’s compulsive habit kicks in again.

The one who broke Shaq’s vow of big man silence is Karl-Anthony Towns. ICYMI but Shaq didn’t, KAT’s improved from last season. Where most doubted if he’d make a difference to the Knicks, he’s led them to a 29-16 record.

After seeing KAT go 25 points, 16 rebounds, and six assists against the Nets, Shaq said, “This year, I have nothing bad to say about him… Love the way he’s playing the game. He’s playing like a true big man.”

A ‘true big man’ restored the Big Man Alliance. That was bound to happen. As TNT’s resident big man NBA analyst, there’s no way Shaq could completely retire the subject. His Turner contract (rumored to be around $100 million) has to be negotiated by July but he’s expressed his commitment to continue on Inside the NBA on ESPN. Though he’d be heading to a new network, there’s no way he’d stop talking about bigs.

But not like KAT would take offense to O’Neal’s statement today. That’s a definitive compliment by Shaq’s standards. Especially since he’s been skeptical of KAT’s skills since Minnesota shipped him to New York. The reason Shaq decided he was done talking about that category is because the big guys have big feelings.

A big beef ended Shaquille O’Neal’s Big Man Alliance

By some objective observations, Shaquille O’Neal’s pride in the Big Man Alliance has gone a little far. Two centers who would never be part of it (by Shaq and their unspoken mutual accord) – KAT’s ex-teammate Rudy Gobert and Dwight Howard. The latter is the one who nearly ended the Big Man Alliance.

Both escalated their age-old beef into the new year. Both even claimed the other was using their name for media clout. After Howard said Shaq said his name too many times, O’Neal was radio silent online. He instead escalated it on The Big Podcast. Without naming names, he said he was done talking about big men.

“Turned all my powers in… I’m retired,” he told Adam Lefkoe and very bluntly told the reason too. “They get sensitive.” Despite Lefkoe offering compromises, Shaq refused to reinstate his exclusive club.

Lefkoe and TNT couldn’t allow that. In the immediate TNT Tuesday premiere, they launched the Big Man Alliance Belt. Nikola Jokic, who Shaq criticized upon winning MVP last season, is the current holder. And O’Neal defied himself, claiming it would be difficult to steal the belt from The Joker.

This time it’s KAT. Last season, O’Neal hated that Towns was leaning more into the forward position to accommodate Gobert in the Wolves. In the Knicks, he’s leaning back into the traditional center position, which is making Shaq obviously happy. KAT made Shaq reinstate the Big Man Alliance. But there’s likely nothing that will make O’Neal utter the name who made him retire it.