2011 was interesting if you were watching the NBA on TNT. Inside the NBA added its newest tenured analyst, the newly retired Shaquille O’Neal. With him debuted a new segment, ‘Shaqtin’ a Fool.’ With corny graphics and voiceovers, the bloopers segment has become the highlight of the show. For fans that is. Certain players couldn’t get behind it. JaVale McGee was not only a regular appearance, he once filled up entire top 5s and won the mid-season awards multiple times. Dwight Howard did too, but McGee was the one who responded to ‘Shaqtin a Fool’.

Shaq’s two eternal victims and former Lakers teammates, JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard reunited on the latter’s podcast this week. Inevitably, they talked about getting clowned by O’Neal on TV. McGee feuded with the ‘Shaqtin’ a Fool’ namesake because of the bloopers. And the bitterness still runs deep.

McGee said he didn’t understand how a media narrative could impact him until he was the weekly subject of ‘Shaqtin’ a Fool.’ “It messed me up,” he admitted to Dwight. “I was like ‘y’all really think like out of this game. I did one bad play, but I had 15 and six blocks like but ‘y’all didn’t show none of that.'” When fans started believing he was the regular blooper supplier, McGee started questioning himself.

At its peak, Shaq and McGee had a few heated exchanges, mostly via Twitter. By 2017, O’Neal had declared the beef was buried, and he’d never clown McGee again. But that was about four years after McGee clowned Shaq back.

Above the Rim threw it back to 2013 when JaVale McGee spoke to the Inside Guys. One of the co-hosts asked him, “What do you like about Shaqtin’ a Fool?” And McGee promptly responded, “I don’t watch Shaqtin a Coon.” Shaquille O’Neal was right there in a party hat. He heard it loud and clear and had a good laugh over it.

But the segment did take a toll on McGee’s reputation. McGee claims he’d play into the role for a big payday, but he wasn’t going to be disrespected for a mediocre contract both by the league and its media partners. It reached a point where even his teams had to request TNT to keep the 3x champion out of the segment.

Shaqtin a Fool wounds are still raw

Both McGee and Howard are Lifetime Achievement Awardees in the fake ‘Shaqtin’ a Fool’ honors. Neither found it funny at that time. McGee claims that team management like GMs would take the ‘Shaqtin’ a Fool’ narrative over his stats when they offered him contracts. You could tell why it frustrated him to no end.

It took Shaq’s mother, Lucille O’Neal, and JaVale’s mother Pamela McGee to step in and mediate this feud. They have since joined hands and trolled Charles Barkley instead.

O’Neal is even trying to undo some of the damage to McGee’s rep. Like he recently reminded fans that McGee and Pamela are the first mother-son duo to win Olympic gold medals.

However, it does appear that McGee is not over the hurt. Meanwhile, Shaq’s still beefing with Howard. So who knows if this would rehash old wounds between Shaq and ‘Shaqtin’ a Fool’ victims again.