“Draymond Choking”: Shaquille O’Neal and TNT Co-Hosts Debut 2024 Fishing Trip With Warriors Leaving Fans Hysterical

It’s that time of the season to pull on your sailor caps and get your fishing rods. The casualties of the play-ins are here and the TNT jokester are sending them off fishin’ in a grand (and funny) manner. The first team to go is the biggest disappointment, the Golden State Warriors, who lost to the Kings 94-118. They can kick back lakeside on a boat till the postseason. Hopefully they don’t make the TNT imagery come true because that’s one crowded boat.

As usual, the graphics team at TNT doesn’t disappoint. Apart from their old fashioned fishing gear, the crowded Warriors boat left the fans tickled.

TNT crew sends three teams on vacation

The Warriors, Spurs, and Wizards were eliminated from the play-in tournament. That left Shaquille O’Neal, Ernie Johnson, Kenny “The Jet” Smith, and Charles Barkley to send these teams “fishin’” on packed boats. The first team they sent off to Cancun were the Dubs on a boat packed with Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson with unusually NFL quarterback, Brock Purdy and George Lucas.

Purdy’s inclusion may have to do with him being the Mr Irrelevant of the 2022 NFL draft, the last time Golden State won. Lucas may have been included as a nod to the Star Wars creator’s love for the Dubs. (There were even rumors he wanted to buy the franchise long before they were champions.) He’s a favorite within Studio J too. “That’s my man from Star Wars, ain’t it?” was Chuck’s observation. He broke into a fan spiel without letting Kenny complete his sentence. “You know George Lucas is on my bucket list. It’d be a honor to meet him.”

Lucky for Sir Charles, his bestie’s entertainment connections go deep. Shaquille O’Neal graciously offered, “Want me to call him for you, Chuck?”  Who was Chuck to say no. And he took a mile as well. “Get Steven Spielberg on the phone as well.” Shouldn’t be too hard. Shaq hangs out with both movie moguls often.

That will have to wait though. Shaq and Chuck are on playoff duty. Unlike the Dubs.

Fans send Warriors on vacation

There is a genius in the TNT graphics department – Alex, Kenny seems to refer to him – who decided to include Draymond Green holding fish in a chokehold. That’s a nod to Dray’s very eventful season, from putting Rudy Gobert in a chokehold to knocking out Jusuf Nurkic. He went through two suspensions and still maintained a stellar season but couldn’t lead the Dubs far enough.

Somebody whose future is uncertain is Klay Thompson. He went scoreless the entire 32 minutes he played. This crew was discussing if Klay has anything to contribute to the team if he stays. Fans think Klay should go fishing on a different boat from the rest of the Warriors.

If fishing for king salmon is too much, fans have other alternatives for Curry & Co. It involves Steph and Chuck’s favorite hobby.

Considering the run they’ve had, someone suggested that the Warriors were in vacation mode early. And that manifested itself in the playin.

Someone had to bring the focus to the important things – Chuck meeting George Lucas.

While the Warriors enjoy their fishing trip, we’ll be waiting for Shaq to call George Lucas. That is if he’s not joining to Dubs too.