Country of origin United States Running time 30 minutes Networks TNT, NBA TV | No. of seasons 4 Number of seasons 4 | |
 | ||
Starring Shaquille O'Neal
Ernie Johnson Jr.
Charles Barkley
Kenny Smith
Jared Greenberg
Dennis Scott
JaVale McGee Location(s) Turner Studio J
Atlanta, Georgia Original network TNT (2011–present)
NBA TV (2013–present) Similar Inside the NBA, NBA on TNT, The Starters, NBA on ESPN, First Take Profiles | ||
Shaqtin a fool basic math inside the nba nba on tnt
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. 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. It 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 and Matt Winer.
Contents
- Shaqtin a fool basic math inside the nba nba on tnt
- Special Editions
- All Star Edition
- Inside the NBA Edition
- 2014
- 2015
- 2016
- 2017
- Old School Edition 2014
- Shaqtin a Fool Most Valuable Player
- Trivia
- References
The segment regularly features NBA players and also includes, but is not limited to, referees, fans, mascots, 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. Each episode tends to have 5 entries 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.
Only 3 players have the Shaqtin "Golden Ticket," which is lifetime immunity from being included in the segment: Larry Nance Jr. (2015 winner), PJ Tucker (2016 winner), and JaVale McGee (reasons unknown as to how he obtained it).
At the conclusion of the NBA postseason, a Shaqtin' a Fool special airs on NBA TV. During the special, Shaquille O'Neal is joined by Jared Greenberg 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 #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. Also, ahead of the 2015–16 season, Hotels.com sponsored Shaqtin'.
Special Editions
Other from the season-ending special, occasionally there are other special editions of Shaqtin' a Fool.
All-Star Edition
Starting from the 2013 season, an "All-Star" 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.
Inside the NBA Edition
The April 17th, 2013 edition of Shaqtin' was devoted to Inside, showing five moments featuring Inside cast members. For example, it included Johnson in a comic dunk contest as "'Elevator' Ernie Johnson".
2014
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.
2015
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.
2016
On February 17, 2016, Greenberg hosted the 2016 edition with O'Neal and Scott.
2017
On February 22, 2017, Ro Parrish hosted the 2017 edition with O'Neal and Scott.
In addition, O'Neal's mispronouncing of players' names was featured before the Worst Fast Break was presented.
"Old School" Edition (2014)
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. This edition ran on NBA TV, and showed 5 plays for each category, totaling to 20 plays.
Shaqtin' a Fool Most Valuable Player
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 amount of votes for that season was awarded with the Shaqtin' a Fool MVP. In the 2013–14 season, the MVP was decided through the most amount of 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.