Oh, buddy, on a live episode of Inside the NBA, things took an unexpected turn when icon and co-host Shaquille O’Neal abruptly left the set during Wednesday night’s playoff coverage.
Get this, the legend’s sudden departure to use the restroom left colleagues Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, and Charles Barkley both amused and bewildered.
The peculiar moment all unfolded as the crew discussed the Denver Nuggets-Los Angeles Clippers game. O’Neal quickly stood up and headed for the exit, telling his coworkers, “Go ahead, keep talking.”
Smith immediately diagnosed the situation: “It’s that olive oil you’ve been drinking. Listen, he can’t hold it. After 40 [years old], you can’t hold it anymore.” He explained that O’Neal had been testing the purported digestive benefits of olive oil.
BAHAHAHA.
“You have to do it for two weeks,” Barkley chimed in. Johnson jokingly added: “He’s gonna miss a lot of air time then.”
Now you know the super candid broadcast, which humorously replayed O’Neal’s exit, a move the former Lakers star found excessive upon his return. “Chuck, stop talking so damn much, finish your point so we can go to break,” O’Neal said, blaming the incident on excessive water consumption.
“I’m sitting here like, ‘Shut the hell up and hurry up.’ Sorry about that, America,” the Hall of Famer added with his trademark humor.
They are the greatest live television show of any genre. Period.