| Starring: | Shaquille O'Neal Ernie Johnson Charles Barkley Kenny Smith |
| Num Seasons: | 8 (TNT seasons) 5 (NBA TV seasons) |
| Location: | Turner Studio J Atlanta, Georgia |
| Runtime: | 30 minutes |
| Network: | TNT (2011–present) NBA TV (2013–present) TruTV (2024–present) |
Shaqtin' a Fool is a weekly segment from the television show Inside the NBA, the postgame show of NBA on TNT following the conclusion of National Basketball Association (NBA) games airing on cable TV channel TNT.[1] The title is a play on "actin' a fool." It first aired during the 2011–12 NBA season, when retired NBA All-Star Shaquille O'Neal voiced it upon joining the show and was created by Turner Sports producer Mike Goldfarb.[2] Shaqtin' highlights humorous and uncommon basketball plays that have occurred during NBA games in the past week. O'Neal is the host and presenter, while the other analysts in studio react and provide commentary. Most often, those have been fellow Inside regulars Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, and Charles Barkley, but other Inside hosts have also participated, including Chris Webber, Grant Hill, Steve Smith, Kevin Garnett and Matt Winer. Since 2018, the Shaqtin franchise has been led by Turner Sports producer Michael Kaplan.
The segment regularly features NBA players and also includes, but is not limited to, coaches, referees,[3] fans, mascots,[4] and other arena employees. Sometimes they also air clips from other international basketball leagues. On special occasions, the segment features plays which had occurred during the past, including several entire "retro" editions.[5] Each episode tends to have four entries (five until 2018) from the past week, with each entry typically involving a single play (although there are some times where a collection of similar bad plays, such as travels and air ball free throws, are highlighted). Multiple plays may include the same player, and a single play may highlight more than one player.
There is a special award given to certain players, called the "Shaqtin Golden Ticket," which is lifetime immunity from being included in the segment. Since its debut in 2015, four players have been awarded with the award. Those include: current Atlanta Hawks power forward Larry Nance Jr. (2015 winner), current Los Angeles Clippers small and power forward P. J. Tucker (2016 winner, although he was featured on an episode during the 2018–19 season), 2-time Shaqtin' MVP, 3-time NBA Champion, and current Sacramento Kings center JaVale McGee (after his long feud with O'Neal escalated in early 2017, see more in "Shaq's feud with JaVale McGee" section),[6] and current Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (2018 winner, although he did appear in an episode in the 2022–23 season).[7]
At the conclusion of the NBA postseason, a Shaqtin' a Fool special airs on NBA TV. During the special, O'Neal is joined by Ro Parrish and Dennis Scott, and the top Shaqtin' a Fool plays of the season are shown. On the 2013 special, 34 plays were shown to honor O'Neal's jersey retirement of No. 34 during his tenure with the Los Angeles Lakers. On the 2014 special, only 20 plays were shown. For the 2015 special, the number of plays increased to 30. Since the beginning of the 2013–14 NBA season, fans are able to tweet suggestions for Shaqtin' a Fool.[8]
The Shaqtin' a Fool Most Valuable Player (MVP) is an annual award presented at the Shaqtin' a Fool special during the conclusion of the NBA Playoffs. In the 2011–12 and the 2012–13 season, fans voted online for their favorite play of the year, and whichever player whose play accumulated the most votes for that season was awarded with the Shaqtin' a Fool MVP. In the 2013–14 season, the MVP was decided through the most appearances made by one player in a single season. In the event of a tie, fans vote for a player, and the leading candidate receives the award. For the 2014–15 season, three nominees were named and fans voted online for the winner.
| Season | Player | Position | Team | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011–12 | JaVale McGee | Center | Washington Wizards | Traded to the Denver Nuggets before the season ended | |
| 2012–13 | JaVale McGee (2) | Center | Denver Nuggets | McGee is the first of two players to win the award twice. | |
| 2013–14 | Kendrick Perkins[9] | Center | Oklahoma City Thunder | Initially tied with Nick Young, fans later voted for Perkins to break the tie | |
| 2014–15 | Otto Porter[10] | Small Forward | Washington Wizards | Won the fan vote against Brandon Knight and Dion Waiters | |
| 2015–16 | James Harden | Shooting Guard | Houston Rockets | Harden was the first All-Star to win the award. | |
| 2016–17 | Russell Westbrook | Point Guard | Oklahoma City Thunder | Westbrook is the first player to win NBA MVP and Shaqtin MVP in the same season. | |
| 2017–18 | Joel Embiid | Center | Philadelphia 76ers | Embiid gained 58% of the fan vote against LeBron James, and it was claimed that this was the closest race to date. | |
| 2018–19 | Lance Stephenson | Shooting Guard | Los Angeles Lakers | First Shaqtin’ MVP under the new format, where fans vote on Twitter hours before the NBA doubleheader on TNT, then the nightly winner would be announced on Inside the NBA later that night. | |
| 2019–20 | No MVP named | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| 2020–21 | Russell Westbrook (2) | Point Guard | Washington Wizards | ||
| 2021–22 | Russell Westbrook (3) | Point Guard | Los Angeles Lakers | ||
| 2022–23 | Andre Drummond | Center | Chicago Bulls | ||
| 2023–24 | Jordan Poole | Shooting Guard | Washington Wizards |
Other from the season-ending special, occasionally there are other special editions of Shaqtin' a Fool.
Starting with the conclusion of the 2012 All-Star Game, an "All-Star Weekend" edition of Shaqtin' a Fool airs after NBA All-Star Weekend. It highlights bloopers that had occurred in the All Star Weekend events, such as the Slam Dunk Contest, the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, and the NBA Rising Stars Challenge.
The April 17th, 2013 edition of Shaqtin was devoted to Inside, showing four moments featuring Inside cast members (including two from Charles Barkley), and one from then-Miami Heat power forward/center, Chris Bosh. For example, it included Johnson in a comic dunk contest as "'Elevator' Ernie Johnson".[11]
On February 27, 2014, a midseason special named the "Shaqtin's" (parodying the Academy Awards) aired on NBA TV featuring O'Neal, Scott and Greenberg.[12]
| Award | Player | Position | Team | Play Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Worst Layup | Kendrick Perkins | Center | Oklahoma City Thunder | An up and under layup/dunk attempt fails to hit the rim. | |
| Worst Pass | Enes Kanter | Center | Utah Jazz | A random pass out of bounds against the Oklahoma City Thunder. | |
| Worst Shot | Enes Kanter | Center | Utah Jazz | Two botched double-clutch jumpers. | |
| Worst Dunk | Derrick Williams | Forward | Sacramento Kings | A missed self alley-oop after getting a steal against the Chicago Bulls. Notable for occurring after Williams has Tweeted in response to Corey Brewer's own missed dunk, which occurred earlier in the week. | |
| Worst Moment By An All-Star | Tony Parker | Guard | San Antonio Spurs | A technical free throw shot well short of the basket. This shot attempt was aborted by the officials, possibly while Parker was in mid-shot.[13] [14] [15] | |
| Worst Turnover | Marcin Gortat | Center | Washington Wizards | A botched Dream Shake against Tim Duncan. | |
| Worst Moment | JaVale McGee | Center | Denver Nuggets | Piggy-backing Steven Adams while running back on defense during a fast break. This would be McGee's only appearance on Shaqtin' a Fool all season, as he was sidelined with a broken left leg. | |
| Lifetime Achievement Award | JaVale McGee | Center |
For 2015, O'Neal, Scott and Greenberg were joined by Funkmaster Flex, who also presented Flexin' A Fool, reserved for players under 6 feet. Ashanti also made an appearance to put her spin on the intro.
| Award | Player | Position | Team | Play Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Worst Fast Break | Brandon Knight | Guard | Milwaukee Bucks | Blowing an easy breakaway game-winning layup in overtime against the Brooklyn Nets. | |
| Worst Pass | Brandon Knight | Guard | Milwaukee Bucks | A badly botched jump pass against the Indiana Pacers. | |
| Worst Shot | Brandon Jennings | Guard | Detroit Pistons | Passing up a wide open layup and then missing a fadeaway jumper. | |
| Worst Dunk | Corey Brewer | Guard/Forward | Minnesota Timberwolves | An (uncalled) six-step travel on a breakaway dunk. | |
| Worst Play By An All-Star | James Harden | Guard | Houston Rockets | Matador defense in transition against the New York Knicks. | |
| Worst Moment | Lance Stephenson | Guard | Charlotte Hornets | Slapping himself and flopping after running into a screen. | |
| Lifetime Achievement Award | Brandon Knight | Guard |
On February 17, 2016, Greenberg hosted the 2016 edition with O'Neal and Scott.
| Award | Player | Position | Team | Play Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Worst Shot | Marcelo Huertas | Guard | Los Angeles Lakers | Shoots a behind the head three-pointer as the shot clock expired after getting his first shot blocked. | |
| Worst Play By An All-Star | James Harden | Guard | Houston Rockets | Two plays in the winning nomination: matador defense in transition against the New York Knicks and failure to defensively rebound a missed layup by the Detroit Pistons, which surrendered a tip-in. A wildly errant pass by James Harden against the Utah Jazz was featured in another nomination. | |
| Worst Fast Break | Nerlens Noel | Forward/center | Philadelphia 76ers | Mishandling his dribble on a fast break after stealing the ball from the Cleveland Cavaliers. | |
| Worst Pass | Anderson Varejão | Forward/center | Cleveland Cavaliers | A pass that hits LeBron James in the face while receiving another pass during warm-ups. | |
| Worst Uncalled Travel | Dirk Nowitzki | Forward | Dallas Mavericks | Uncalled backward hopping while possessing the ball and posting up against the Houston Rockets. | |
| Worst Moment | Bismack Biyombo | Center | Toronto Raptors | Dribbles the ball after stopping his dribble, then lets the ball go loose upon realizing his mistake. | |
| Lifetime Achievement Award | Kendrick Perkins | Center |
On February 22, 2017, Ro Parrish hosted the 2017 edition with O'Neal and Scott. In this edition, all winners except Westbrook made an on-camera "acceptance speech" (in Smith's case, Jason Terry, who was also involved in the play, spoke for him). That led to additional plays featured; another windmill dunk by Ross, this time successful (after his asking for it) and two flops O'Neal made during his career (after "Best Actor" winner Marcus Smart accepted the award but implied that O'Neal flopped some times himself as a player).
| Award | Player | Position | Team | Play Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Worst Shot | Kemba Walker | Guard | Charlotte Hornets | Prematurely celebrating a 3-pointer against the Miami Heat before the shot missed. | |
| Worst Play By An All-Star | Russell Westbrook | Guard | Oklahoma City Thunder | A blatant travel following an inbound against the Golden State Warriors. | |
| Worst Fast Break | Terrence Ross | Guard/Forward | Toronto Raptors | A missed breakaway windmill dunk following a steal against the Milwaukee Bucks. | |
| Worst Pass | Wesley Johnson | Guard/Forward | Los Angeles Clippers | Two consecutive botched inbounds passes against the San Antonio Spurs resulting in easy dunks. | |
| Best Actor (Worst Flop) | Marcus Smart | Guard | Boston Celtics | A trio of flops against the Pistons, Rockets and Pelicans. | |
| Worst Uncalled Travel | Bojan Bogdanović | Guard/Forward | Brooklyn Nets | A 10-step travel combined with a double dribble against the Los Angeles Clippers. | |
| Worst Moment | J. R. Smith | Guard | Cleveland Cavaliers | Hugging opposing player Jason Terry during play, leading to an easy dunk for Tony Snell of the Milwaukee Bucks. | |
| Lifetime Achievement Award | Dwight Howard | Center |
In addition, O'Neal's mispronouncing of players' names was featured before the Worst Fast Break was presented.
On February 21, 2018, Casey Stern hosted the 2018 edition with O'Neal, Scott and Tony Rock. In this edition, all winners except Stephen Curry and Marcus Smart made an on-camera "acceptance speech" (in Curry's case, Lauri Markkanen, who was also involved in the play, spoke for him). O'Neal spoke on Smart's behalf and also presented a clip of him taking a seven-step travel in a 2010 playoff game.
| Award | Player | Position | Team | Play Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Worst Shot | Rotnei Clarke | Guard | Illawarra Hawks (Australia) | A botched free throw attempt against the Sydney Kings. | |
| Worst Play By An All-Star | Stephen Curry | Guard | Golden State Warriors | A layup attempt that was blocked by Lauri Markkanen, which hit his head while falling down the floor. | |
| Worst Fast Break | Avery Bradley | Guard | Detroit Pistons | A missed dunk and a blocked shot following a steal against the Los Angeles Clippers. | |
| Worst Pass | Lance Stephenson | Guard | Indiana Pacers | A pass to Domantas Sabonis while falling down the floor against the Milwaukee Bucks. | |
| Best Actor | Dirk Nowitzki | Forward | Dallas Mavericks | Falling down the other end of the court in transition against the Orlando Magic. | |
| Worst Uncalled Travel | Marcus Smart | Guard | Boston Celtics | A 12-step travel while possessing the ball and going for a pass against the Houston Rockets. | |
| Worst Moment | Joel Embiid | Center | Philadelphia 76ers | Three missed dunks against the Indiana Pacers. | |
| Lifetime Achievement Award | Nick Young | Guard |
After around 5-year hiatus, Shaqtin' a Fool midseason award was back on February 21, 2023. This edition was hosted by Dennis Scott along with Shaquille O'Neal and Josiah Johnson. This award also presented some of Shaq's viral moments during the 2022-23 season in the final segment.
| Worst Pass | Jalen Green | Guard | Houston Rockets | Failed to set an alley-oop to Kenyon Martin Jr. against the Philadelphia 76ers. | |
| Worst Miss | Killian Hayes | Guard | Detroit Pistons | A terrible shot that went off the backboard against the Memphis Grizzlies. | |
| Worst Decision | Russell Westbrook and Jaden McDaniels | Guard and Forward | Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves | Passed the ball to each other during the preseason game. | |
| Worst Flop | Patrick Beverley | Guard | Committed a flop after his ball possession was stolen by Terance Mann during the match against the Los Angeles Clippers. | ||
| Worst Got' Em | Forward/center | Washington Wizards | Got an ankle breaker by Kevin Durant and splitting against the Brooklyn Nets. | ||
| Worst Timing | D'Angelo Russell | Guard | Forgot to check into the game when the Phoenix Suns got a ball possession. | ||
| Worst Result | Aaron Nesmith | Forward | Indiana Pacers | Got slipped when his teammates watered down on him during the post-match interview. | |
| Worst Turnover | Josh Giddey | Guard/Forward | Oklahoma City Thunder | An inbound pass that hit the backboard and then passed the ball to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander out the bounds against the Boston Celtics. | |
| Worst What Are You Doing? | Meek Mill | Rapper/Spectator | Tripped the referee when watching the Philadelphia 76ers against the Phoenix Suns. |
On December 11, 2014, a special edition of Shaqtin' a Fool, titled "Old School", featured plays which occurred during the 1980s, 90s, 2000s, and a special section showing O'Neal's top bloopers during his career as a player.[16] This edition ran on NBA TV, and showed 5 plays for each category, totaling to 20 plays.
| Category | Players Featured | |
|---|---|---|
| 1980s | Larry Bird, Darryl Dawkins, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Danny Ainge, and Karl Malone | |
| 1990s | Tim Kempton, Dominique Wilkins, Karl Malone, Chris Mills, Samaki Walker, and Shawn Marion | |
| 2000s | Lamar Odom, Nick Buchert, JaVale McGee, Shaquille O'Neal, and Michael Ruffin | |
| Shaquille O'Neal | Shaquille O'Neal |
[2] Buchert is an NBA referee
On December 7, 2023, Inside joined forces with ESPN's NBA Countdown studio team of Stephen A. Smith, Michael Wilbon, Malika Andrews, Adrian Wojnarowski and Bob Myers as part of a TNT-ESPN collaboration to broadcast and cover the 2023 (inaugural) NBA In-Season Tournament semifinals at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. This involved both studio teams appearing on the other show and network for pre- and post-game coverage, including Smith and Wilbon appearing on Inside.[17] [18] The Shaqtin edition for the episode was themed around Smith and Wilbon, including Smith bouncing a first pitch at Yankee Stadium as #1.[19]
The player who was featured most frequently on the show was JaVale McGee, who "won" MVP honors in the first two seasons and was firstly featured on the second episode of the 2011–12 season. McGee's growing displeasure over his frequent appearances culminated into a heated argument between him and Shaquille O'Neal on February 24, 2017, with tweets exchanged between the two. During the following show, O'Neal declared that the feud was over and McGee's name would "never come out of his mouth again". During the last show of the 2016–17 regular season, when the best plays of the season were selected, a co-host tried to ask O'Neal if there was a chance that any of McGee's plays already shown at the show before the feud would be featured, but O'Neal immediately dismissed the possibility. Since the feud, McGee's former team, the Golden State Warriors, had requested TNT, the network airing the segment, to cease mentions of McGee.[20] [21]
McGee explained further to Shannon Sharpe on his podcast Club Shay Shay in 2021
At the time when it was happening, I wasn't in a position to really speak on it to where it would get any push if I would've spoke on it early on. I didn't realise what it was doing to my career until I started to move onto other teams. It was slowly chipping away at my reputation. Perception changes everything. All I have been doing is trying to build my reputation back up.[22]
In an interview with his former teammate Draymond Green on his podcast, he also explained his frustrations about being frequently shown on the segment
I could watch an episode. A lot of people tag you for everything. This is it bro. I'm not going for this shit no more. The fact that you keep putting this narrative out there about me? At that point I just didn't understand why I need to be the butt of his jokes.[23]