“Think You Can Do This to Me”: Shaquille O’Neal Shares Cryptic Post Hours Before NBA’s Ultimate Rejection to TNT

After the NBA’s response to TNT’s aggressive move, fans are feeling as charged as Alonzo in Training Day. That happens to be Shaquille O’Neal’s all-time favorite movie. So when he dropped his version of the cult-popular ‘King Kong’ speech, fans couldn’t help but speculate if it’s some kind of shade at the people who let down Inside the NBA and all its viewers.

In the span of half a week, TNT filed the paperwork to match Amazon’s $1.8 billion annual fee, and the league was quick to reject it. If that ends NBA on TNT for good or opens up the possibility of a legal battle is unclear. But the responses from fans and maybe a certain TNT analyst were swift.

Shaq, who’s currently in Croatia on his Summer of Bass tour, once again broke out his hobby for funny voiceovers on Instagram. This time it was Denzel Washington’s voice dubbed over his exaggerated expressions. The lines that he chose out of the Hollywood legend’s massive repertoire of famous lines hit hardest. It’s that famous speech from Training Day, the expletive-laden angry one that goes like this.

“You think you can do this to me? You motherf***ers will be playing basketball in Pelican Bay when I get finished with you. SHU program, n****. 23 hour lockdown. I’m the man up in this piece. You’ll never see the light of… who the f**k do you think you’re f**king with? I’m the police, I run s**t around here. You just live here. Yeah, that’s right, you better walk away. Go on and walk away… ’cause I’m gonna’ burn this motherf***er down. King Kong ain’t got shit on me. ”

The violent context from the original movie is not present in Shaq’s case. But speculations are if he’s expressing his anger in creative ways with that accompanying caption, “you think u can do this to me.”

Shaq is so obsessed with the movie, the actor, and this speech, anyone who knows him – from best friend Anthony C. Hall to The Big Podcast colleague Nischelle Turner – claims that O’Neal knows this speech word for word. His son, Shareef, commented on his choice to dub instead of saying it himself. “You’ve seen this move too many times to not know the words man.“

But it’s the timing of Shaq posting an indirect rant that gets fans. It was nearly at the same time news broke the NBA effectively ended all of TNT’s avenues to keep airing games. Without the NBA on TNT, it’s quite possible that Inside the NBA with Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson might end.

It might be just Shaq being Shaq. He’s the type to openly diss too. But Alonzo’s sentiment simply fits.

Shaq shaded the league?

Warner Bros. Discovery started this week with a bid to match Amazon’s rights in a combined $76 billion media rights deal. Amazon and the NBA had reportedly agreed on annual terms between $1.8 billion and $2.2 billion. The league’s broadcasting partner of 35 years, Turner, exercised its matching rights on Amazon instead of NBC.

However, on Wednesday, the league declared that TNT Sports “did not match the terms” and hence their bid was rejected. Fans speculated that the news reached the Inside Guys, and it prompted a shady response from O’Neal. Or it could just be Shaq’s regular obsession with Training Day. After all, when Denzel Washington appeared on Inside the NBA, O’Neal didn’t stop badgering till Washington did the King Kong speech live with a slight change, “You think you can do this to me, Shaq!” 

That’s the theme of Turner’s next move too. In response to NBA’s rejection, they’re threatening a legal battle. But the future of Shaq’s job is as uncertain as Alonzo’s.

Stay tuned for more such updates and join us in the exciting pilot episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and SEC All-Freshman Team Selection, Silas Demary Jr.