The media and podcast wars for clicks continue, and this time it’s between two titans of the game as Shaq didn’t waste any time dropping a rap diss directed at former NFL player, First Take host and exploding podcaster on his The Big Podcast with Shaq.
Shaq Drops Diss Track Against Shannon Sharpe
The diss track comes on the heels of building drama between the two media moguls concerning the NBA MVP race.
Shaquille O’Neal took to social media to strike back at Shannon Sharpe for suggesting that Shaq’s support of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for MVP stemmed from a deeper jealousy that Shaq holds toward a center who is accumulating more personal accolades at 29 years of age, than Shaq did throughout his entire career.
Uncle Shay Shay also wasn’t feeling the way Shaq told Joker to his face during an interview on “NBA on TNT” that he thinks SGA should have won the award.
There were people who felt that Shaq’s move was a bit bush league, and Shannon called him on it.
Shaq clearly got offended by the suggestion that his support of SGA was rooted in some kind of personal campaign against the three-time MVP. His response on social media spiraled into a personal assault on Sharpe and his rise in media:
“If you ain’t ranked in the Top 10 in your profession then you can’t speak to me. I know what you did to get where you are. Me jealous, sounds like you are jealous.”
If we are being honest, Sharpe is probably top 5 in the sports talk host/podcast/media personality game. His Katt Williams pod did 68 million views and it was off to the races. Sharpe’s pod introduced him to a whole other female and gossip audience who don’t watch ESPN every morning.
As for the beef, this entire exchange sounds like some schoolyard banter, but we all love the drama. We also know that Shannon has a history of being one of the few people in the industry who will criticize Shaq or call him out on something.
Then Shaq went to the lowest-hanging fruit by boasting about his net worth, estimated to be around $500 million compared to Sharpe’s ($15 million), writing, “I work less than you but I’m worth more than you.”
Shannon Sharpe vs. Shaq Like Kendrick vs. Drake?
Shaq’s healthy assault on Sharpe’s personal accomplishments and his road to success mirrors the recent rap battle that we just enjoyed between Drake and Kendrick Lamar, where dirty laundry and direct personal assaults turned the battle into a dung-tossing parade, transcending the mastery of the lyrical exchange and giving everybody a bad taste in their mouths.
Big dogs of the culture, pockets full of money, going at it on social media as the people gobble it up like a free chicken and biscuits from Popeyes. We’re talking back when people were killing other people over that magical chicken.
Shannon’s Response To Shaq’s Evisceration: Shaq’s Work Ethic
Shannon responded on his “Nightcap” podcast with former NFL star Ochocinco, first reading Shaq’s social media offering line-for-line, while interjecting his own commentary to dispute the authenticity and accuracy of Shaq’s words.
“I’ve never professed that I was as great as Shaq,” Sharpe told Ochocino, who looks totally confused about the matter. “But what I will say I got what I got because I worked my ass off.
“Now Shaq is the one that said he didn’t work as hard, he didn’t train as hard, he didn’t eat as well as he should have. Shaq is the one that every time someone wins an MVP, he says he shoulda been MVP over Steve Nash,” Sharpe added.
Shannon went on to pat himself on the back because of his willingness to concede that players such as Gronk and Antonio Gates and Tony GonzaleZ were better than him historically, which is something Shaq would never do or say about the centers who succeeded him in the game. He calls ’em all “barbecue chicken.”
“Am I a top 100 player? No? Am I the equivalent as a football player to what (Shaq) was as a basketball player? No. But what I did is that I maximized that,” Sharpe said.
Sharpe Says He Maximized His Talent, Shaq Squandered His
“Do you believe that you gave everything you possibly could in basketball?” Sharpe asked Shaq via his podcast.
Shaq felt it was necessary to throw out his career accolades that are already well documented on Google as part of his belittling post on IG. So, Sharpe put his twist on things, adding:
“He’s the most dominant big man in the history of the game, but he got one MVP.”
Ouch.
For the most part, Shannon took the high road, but he definitely took shots at Shaq’s public admission that he slacked off midway through his career and didn’t take care of his body or value his legacy on the court the way that he should have.
So, without saying it, Shannon let Shaq know that in his opinion, he is more of a man than Shaq and has earned everything he got out of the mud by reaching the peak of his potential, while Shaq squandered many things in his life, despite his riches, including his marriage, which the Diesel openly regrets deeply to this day.
Mudslinging matches have become all the rave these days between rappers, media, reality TV participants, it goes on and on. It also creates loads of money for the people who can keep the public engaged in the drama.
Shaq and Shannon happen to be as proficient in the art of mudslinging as any person in media and both have the green light to speak their minds without any real repercussions. This could get good.
The diss track now takes this to another level and gives fans a chance to engage in the mess even further.
