Almost a decade ago, SNL’s version of Inside the NBA left fans in splits. But one of the OGs wasn’t happy. What does TNT do? They call ‘Shaq Lite’ to replace Shaquille O’Neal on his day off. O’Neal is actually pretty cool with the comedians who impersonate him. He just doesn’t like one habit they attach to his personality. Aries Spears and Jay Pharaoh, both of Shaq’s buddies, got under his skin because of their near-perfect imitations of him. Yet, nothing’s going to change.

Aries Spears talked hoops and comedy on Byron Scott’s Fast Break this week. Right off the bat, Scott and Kid Jay had to ask about his (in)famous impressions of Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley.

Interestingly, it’s Spears’ mother, the iconic Doris Spears, who helped him perfect the art of celebrity impressions. Doris, a jazz & blues artist, showed Aries that impressions and singing have one thing in common. “Everybody’s voice is kind of like a note.” So Aries can pick up and imitate a person’s tone, inflection, rhythm, and cadence as easily as catching the right note.

“It’s about being on key. So it’s like, you know, with Shaq, Shaq is breathy and bassy,” Spears described and illustrated it with his latest impression of the Big Aristotle. Not just the same ‘dominant’ talk. He imitated Shaq’s threat to RG3 for his comments on Angel Reese. He even did his Chuck bit and left the hosts wheezing.

The host, Kid Jay, who worked with Shaq during his Lakers era, loved that Spears not only does the voice, but the facial expressions as well. “He has the facial expressions with the Shaq with his sideways the whole nine yards. And Shaq with the eyes kind of crossed too, you know,” Jay said, and Scott agreed. But Spears revealed that Shaq felt the opposite.

“Shaq hates that,” he said. “‘cuz when Jay Pharaoh does it, he exaggerates it so much. And I remember one time Shaq was just like, ‘I’m not cross-eyed.’” True story! That hasn’t changed Spears or Pharaoh’s Shaq impression. And eventually, the big man has learnt to live with it.

Shaquille O’Neal reviewed his impersonator

Shaquille O’Neal is usually a great sport with comedians. He produced All Star Comedy Jam after all and loves a good roast. Only once has he pointed out a comedy trope is not true to life.

Saturday Night Live re-enacted the Inside Guys in a 2018 sketch with Jay Pharaoh playing Shaq. Now, Pharaoh can’t make himself taller and bigger. So he exaggerates his Shaq impression with a little cross-eyed hilarity. The TNT crew directly reacted to it with O’Neal rating Pharaoh a 6 out of 10 for the ‘inaccurate’ representation. He also made it a point to say, “I’m not cross-eyed, America.”

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Shaquille O’Neal truly isn’t cross-eyed. He’s repeatedly denied the claim on the record. He’s open about having a stutter and dyslexia. So he’s got no reason to lie about this. It’s just Pharaoh’s impression that went viral and spread a misconception. TNT even brought it back in the 2019 NBA Awards and again when they had Pharaoh replace O’Neal on his day off on Inside the NBA. And Aries Spears, a self-proclaimed ‘bandwagoner,’ has gone with it.

O’Neal doesn’t mind, though. He’s Spears’ buddy, and he even helped Pharaoh create his comedy special. He just wants to clear the air – his eyes are even.