The NBA’s new 11-year, $76 billion television deal is set to redefine national coverage of the league. Major changes are already on the horizon for the 2025-26 season, including the league’s long-awaited return to NBC after a 23-year gap. While that’s a major win for NBC, the news isn’t as bright for TNT fans. With NBA TV moving on from the network, the shift has stirred up a flood of memories and nostalgia from those who helped make the show an institution. And this time it was Shaquille O’Neal!

Although the show will continue under NBA Today’s oversight, its departure from TNT still signals the end of an era. That’s why Shaquille O’Neal couldn’t help but look back, taking to Instagram to share his feelings about one of the show’s most beloved segments, Shaqtin’ A Fool. The former Lakers superstar posted a story featuring some of the funniest, most meme-worthy moments from the segment’s early days.

In the clip posted by Shaq, you can hear the panel joke around about Grammy-winning artist Megan Thee Stallion. Not just that, the video also features other hilarious bits from the program, including the big man wearing some leopard print fluffy shoes and the host wearing 3/4th cargo. While Shaquille O’Neal did not write any caption in his story, it is safe to assume that the former NBA champion would’ve been laughing quite hard remembering the unfiltered conversations on Shaqtin’ A Fool.

After all, it was one of the show’s most beloved segments, loved by fans and panelists alike. Over the years, Shaqtin’ A Fool delivered some of the league’s funniest bloopers, while also handing out lighthearted awards at season’s end. Chief among them was the Shaqtin’ A Fool MVP, a parody honor for the year’s most outrageous moments. The most recent recipient? None other than LeBron James. To which Shaq famously responded, “Over Ben Simmons? Bron, that wasn’t me.”

Shaq clarified that it was the fans who voted LeBron James as the Shaqtin’ A Fool MVP. That moment alone shows just how much the segment resonated not only with fans but with Shaquille O’Neal himself. And while the NBA’s new broadcasting deal shifts the landscape with Amazon now in the mix, there’s still hope that Shaqtin’ A Fool finds its way back onto our screens.

The NBA makes a huge move ahead of the new season with Amazon

This season, fans won’t just see the NBA on new broadcasting networks, but they’ll also gain deeper insight into what players do on the court. Thanks to the league’s new partnership with Amazon Web Services. Part of the NBA’s broader collaboration with Amazon, the deal will introduce three brand-new stats for the 2025-26 season, offering fans a fresh perspective on the game. The deal is similar to Microsoft’s partnership with EPL earlier this year.

This includes defensive box scores, a new way to understand the difficulty of any given shot taken during the game, and will try to understand the players’ on-court gravity, along with other factors. Another new feature set to be part of this rollout is ‘player finder,’ which will analyze a player’s movement during the game, label them, and allow fans and teams to search for similar ones from the data set. This without a doubt will be revolutionary for the NBA.

Moreover, these features will enhance the broadcasting experience for the fans. As fans will be intrigued to know how much pressure a shooter or a rim runner puts on a defense, or what a defensive box score will look like. However, the most interesting stat would be the one that measures each shot’s difficulty, which will give the viewers an idea of how difficult a shot a player has taken. This adds another layer of excitement for the fans around the new season, as we eagerly await the tip-off.