Basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal spent one season toward the end of his legendary career as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
By that point, his scoring output had dipped considerably, which was fodder for his fellow TNT analyst Charles Barkley to joke about those diminished numbers.
The genesis of the conversation surrounded the numbers that O’Neal wore during his 19-year career for six different teams. After leaving the Cavaliers after the 2009-10 campaign, he wore No. 36 for the Boston Celtics, with Barkley joking that the number matched his point total for a month with the team.
That was followed by a shot of O’Neal wearing No. 33 for the Cavaliers, with Barkley again getting in a dig about O’Neal’s lack of scoring:
“That’s how many points he had in two months.”
However, O’Neal delivered a devastating rebuttal:
“After I had four (championship) rings and you got none.”
In reality, O’Neal scored 636 points in his 53 games for the Cavaliers during that lone season. He averaged 12.0 points and 6.7 rebounds, but the Cavaliers came up short in the second round of the playoffs. Soon after, LeBron James left the Cavaliers, which began a lengthy rebuilding project by the team.
Per NBA insider Shams Charania, the Cleveland Cavaliers believe they have what it takes to…
The Cleveland Cavaliers squandered an opportunity to reach the second round of the playoffs for…
Cleveland Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff seemed to call the officiating into question following his…
Former Minnesota Timberwolves and Boston Celtics star Kevin Garnett directed some criticism the Cleveland Cavaliers'…
Cleveland Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen suffered a rib injury due to an elbow from Orlando…
Cleveland Cavaliers veteran Marcus Morris had a strong performance in his squad's pivotal Game 5…