Shaquille O’Neal ate a big slice of humble pie on Sunday evening.
The previous NBA star-turned-analyst stated on “Contained in the NBA” earlier than Recreation 4 of Suns vs. Nuggets that Phoenix star Devin Booker, who had a stunning 20-for-25 capturing evening (47 factors) in Recreation 3, wouldn’t have a repeat efficiency in him for Recreation 4.
Booker then went out and shot 14-for-18, scoring 36 factors within the Suns’ Recreation 4 win, and Shaq issued him a public apology after the sport was over.
“Devin Booker I’m sorry, I owe you an apology,” Shaq stated. “I bought on TV and stated you wouldn’t go 20-for-25 once more, you messed round and went 14-for-18.
“So sir, I apologize. Love the best way you’re enjoying. And once more, now we have now a sequence.”
The Suns tied up the sequence, 2-2, behind Booker’s second straight electrifying capturing efficiency, with the 26-year-old now having hit 79 % of his photographs over the previous two video games to deliver Phoenix again from a 2-0 deficit.
Kevin Durant added 36 factors of his personal, and Landry Shamet — who didn’t even get on the ground in Recreation 2 — was the shock third scorer with out the injured Chris Paul, pouring in 19 factors and 5 3-pointers.
It was sufficient to carry off a heroic efficiency from Nuggets star Nikola Jokic, who scored 53 factors (a Denver franchise playoff report) and added 11 assists within the loss.
The sequence now returns to Denver for a vital Recreation 5 on Tuesday.
It’s not the primary time Shaq has made a public apology to a participant; in 2021, whereas interviewing then-Rockets large man Christian Wooden after a 27-point efficiency in a win over the Spurs, O’Neal famously advised him, “I owe you an apology. I wasn’t aware of your recreation.”
Wooden responded to O’Neal’s quote, which has since turn into a meme, by saying: “Oh man, you’re an off-the-cuff.”
