What is Shaquille O’Neal’s Inside the NBA prep like? Just ask his co-hosts. Big Diesel leaves no stone unturned to communicate with the players in post-game interviews. However, how much of that is successful is up for debate. As the 2023-24 NBA season is about to kick off, Shaq’s armed with a smartphone and high-speed Internet to be on top of every interview. Everyone at TNT and viewers already know how that’s going to go.

Ernie Johnson confirmed that the giant prankster will be up to his usual antics, as will all of them. This comes when fans are antsy about how long the Inside Guys will be on the air.

Shaquille O’Neal’s ready for his close-up

The Denver Nuggets are among the first teams kicking off the 2023-24 NBA season. This means Shaquille O’Neal is brushing up his Serbian language skills to interview Nikola Jokic. He and the comedians of Inside the NBA have a knack for making The Joker laugh with their antics. Ernie Johnson would testify.

Speaking to a local news outlet, Johnson gave a teaser of what to anticipate in a post-game interview after the Nuggets play against the Los Angeles Lakers. “(It’s worth it) simply because he knows that before it’s all over, Shaq will break out his Serbian and Jokic’s going to have a chance to try and figure out exactly what he was saying,” Johnson narrated as per The Denver Post. Ernie knows O’Neal well. After all, Shaq dubbed him his “godfather” on the show.

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This isn’t made up. Shaq has a history of pulling this stunt. In previous attempts, Shaq blurted something he thought was Serbian before Jokic informed him that it was Russian. Jokic would correct his butchered Serbian again, which prompted O’Neal to scold hapless TNT staff for giving him the wrong phrase.

“(O’Neal) will sit there and he has his phone out, preparing for the interview, googling whatever Web site that can give him some kind of Serbian phrase to throw at him. And it always fails in some way,” Johnson revealed about Shaq’s process.

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Jokic takes the silliness well and O’Neal doesn’t mind getting embarrassed. This is precisely the kind of atmosphere they’re going for at TNT and it remains irreplaceable, despite the rumors about a possible end to their partnership.

Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley make TNT

Studying a new language and playing games are some of the things O’Neal, Johnson, Kenny Smith, and Charles Barkley do to keep things interesting on the set. Johnson, however, chose to stay silent on the future of the show. Barkley previously said that TNT is worried about the NBA media rights going to Amazon.

Amazon Prime is reportedly launching a new NBA show with AI-based analysis. Fans, however, swear loyalty to the quartet of Inside the NBA. As per Ernie, the Inside Crew takes their jobs seriously but not themselves. And fans especially love that.

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These very shenanigans are something fans are waiting to watch when Inside the NBA is back on air alongside the NBA regular season. What are you anticipating from these entertaining analysts this time?