Shaq Fires Back At Scottie Pippen Over Calling Phil Jackson A Racist

Shaquille O’Neal is coming to the defense for his former Los Angeles Lakers head coach Phil Jackson from accusations of racism levied by Chicago Bulls legend Scottie Pippen.

Pippen has gone super viral over the past few days over things he has said to the media. On Monday, during an appearance on “The Dan Patrick Show“, the Hall of Fame forward doubled down on his comments to GQ calling Jackson a racist for infamously giving the final shot to Toni Kukoc in Game 3 of the 1994 Eastern Conference semifinals. He even cited Jackson’s behavior towards Kobe Bryant as an example of his racist tendencies.

The Diesel has since dismissed Pippen’s explosive words on Jackson.

“I don’t want to get involved in other people’s beef, but Phil is definitely not a racist,” O’Neal told FanSided’s Mark Carman. “What he said about Barkley makes a lot of sense, but he’s coming out with a new drink and a new book. Maybe this is all marketing.”

As far as the Barkley part, Pippen famously clashed with him during their one tumultuous campaign together with the Houston Rockets in 1998-99.

“I never apologized to him, but I’ll tell you what: He only got arrested for throwing some little white guys out of a window,” Pippen said about Barkley. “I ain’t never seen him fight a Black man unless there were referees around. He plays his role like he’s tough. I don’t know nobody he done whooped.”

Shaquille O’Neal & Shannon Sharpe Engage In Heated War Of Words Following Shaq’s Strange MVP Interview With Nikola Jokic

Shaquille O’Neal and Shannon Sharpe (Photos via Roy Rochlin/Getty Images and Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SiriusXM)
Get your popcorn ready, folks. NBA icon Shaquille O’Neal and NFL legend Shannon Sharpe have engaged in quite the social media feud.

Shaquille O’Neal made headlines during his interview with 2024 NBA MVP Nikola Jokic on Wednesday. Speaking to the Denver Nuggets star on TNT, O’Neal congratulated Jokic but told him he believed Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder should have won the MVP instead:

During the latest episode of “Nightcap”, Shannon Sharpe opined that O’Neal is jealous of Jokic, who has won three of the last four NBA MVP awards. Sharpe claimed that O’Neal is “envious” of Jokic since “Shaq is never brought up” in the greatest of all time (GOAT) conversations.

Sharpe added more fuel by stating that O’Neal would have had 40,000 career points if he had the Pro Football Hall of Famer’s “work ethic.”

O’Neal took to Instagram to clap back at Sharpe, telling the three-time Super Bowl champion, “if you ain’t ranked in the top ten in your profession, then you can’t speak on Me.”

 

O’Neal may have thought Gilgeous-Alexander deserved the MVP Award, but the voting results weren’t even close. Jokic had 79 first-place votes and 926 total points, compared to 15 first-place votes and 640 points for SGA.

Shaquille O’Neal & Shannon Sharpe Are Among The Best Ever At Their Sports

Regardless of how O’Neal and Sharpe feel about each other’s playing careers, they’re both unquestionably among the greatest ever at their respective sports.

O’Neal is unquestionably a top-10 player all time, with four NBA championships, three NBA Finals MVP Awards, 15 All-Star selections and 28,596 career points. O’Neal put the Orlando Magic on the map in the mid-90s, then proved to be the difference-maker for the Los Angeles Lakers and later the Miami Heat.

With three Super Bowl rings, eight Pro Bowl nods, four First-team All-Pro selections, a spot on the NFL 1990s All-Decade Team and a place in Canton, Sharpe’s resume speaks for itself. Not bad for a seventh-round pick out of Savannah State in 1990.