Only 'Inside the NBA' can turn Shaquille O'Neal's tardiness into a funny ongoing bit
1. It was only the second show of the year last night for the Inside the NBA crew of Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal, but Shaq somehow managed to show up late, and it led to some truly great moments.
This was not the first time the Diesel has been late for a show, so when things kicked off last night, Johnson addressed O’Neal’s absence by saying, “Apparently he thinks this is like an open house. Just drop by anytime between 6 and 2 in the morning and make an appearance.”
Meanwhile, Barkley jokingly tied in O’Neal’s absence to the Ben Simmons situation, saying, “I just want to congratulate TNT for using the Philadelphia 76ers approach: If you come to work and act like a damn idiot, we fire you.”
When Shaq finally did show up, he wasn’t in the mood to be ribbed. As he walked on set he told his castmates, “I’m not even talkin’ to y’all right now.”
This prompted Barkley to retort, “What’s wrong with you, Ben Simmons? You’re mad at us because we actually show up to work?"
Shaq then pulled off one of the strongest power moves you’ll ever see and took out his phone to start texting on air just as he sat on set after being late, which led to Johnson making a connection between O’Neal and Ben Simmons practicing with what some people thought was a phone in his pants pocket.
O’Neal later explained that he was late because he put the wrong address in his maps app when he drove to the studio.
The fact that Inside the NBA was able to make this a funny running bit throughout its entire night of coverage shows why it’s the best sports studio show of all time.
2. The banged-up Browns pulled out a 17–14 win against the Broncos last night in large part because fill-in running back D'Ernest Johnson ran for 146 yards on 22 carries. Johnson, who was making his first NFL start because of injuries to Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt, managed to get a shout out from LeBron James thanks to his impressive performance.
When Johnson found out about James's tweet, he was pretty blown away.
3. Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski definitely need a late-night show if they ever decide to retire. The duo recently battled in a game of Pictionary that was highly entertaining.
4. This is really not good for Chipotle. Titans wideout A.J. Brown revealed on Monday that he was hit with food poisoning, which he blamed on the popular chain.
As of late Thursday afternoon, Brown had still not recovered.
This is clearly a life-changing experience for Brown.
5. One of the wildest scenes we've ever seen during a Major League Baseball game took place on this date 21 years ago.
6. This weeks episode of the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina features a pair of interviews.
First up is Steve Levy from ESPN. Levy talks about how his second season calling Monday Night Football is going, how he feels about the Peyton and Eli Manning alternate Monday Night Football telecast, the challenges of a three-person booth, the impact that fans in the stands have on a broadcast and much more. Levy also discusses ESPN getting back in the NHL game and his role on hockey coverage this season. Levy also reminisces about his famous SportsCenter slip up, his favorite SportsCenter moments and his days working at WFAN.
Following Levy, Jeff Carlin from Curb Your Enthusiasm joins the podcast. Garlin talks about the new season of the HBO comedy, which actor breaks the most when filming, whether Curb could work anywhere but HBO, why the show isn't going to do much on COVID-19, how much of a scene is on the outline the actors get, his favorite Curb season and much more.
The podcast closes with the weekly Traina Thoughts segment. This week, Jimmy and Sal Licata from WFAN and SNY talk about why this is the best time of year for a sports fan, the Yankees retaining Aaron Boone, whether Curb should do shows about COVID-19 and more.
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Stitcher.
You can also watch the SI Media Podcast on YouTube.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: We are very close to the return of Curb Your Enthusiasm this Sunday. The show has always done a great job mixing in sports storylines, as evidenced below.
Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Stitcher. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter and Instagram.