Shaquille O'Neal makes a startling revelation on his 'emotional' TNT farewell moment

Time of India

04-06-2025

Shaquille O'Neal makes a startling revelation on his 'emotional' TNT farewell moment (Image Credit: Getty Images)
NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal talked about all things emotional and witty about him when he appeared on The Pivot Podcast. He took the fans to the TNT farewell moment, where he was reportedly seen being emotional.
Revealing the truth behind that moment, he shared the eye allergy he suffers from and confirmed that the farewell reaction had nothing to do with emotions. Further, he talked about the key moments from his life when he actually cried.
Shaquille O'Neal shared why he was seen being emotional during TNT farewell
Shaquille O'Neal appeared on The Pivot Podcast and took the listeners to several interesting childhood and other key memories from the past. He also talked about the farewell moment at TNT, where he was seen being 'emotional' by several media reports.
However, what was visible was not true. Shaquille made a shocking revelation about that moment, and it had nothing to do with emotions.
He clarified that being emotional is not a part of his personality, as he is brought up by a drill (his father was a drill sergeant). Talking about that moment, he revealed:
'No, I wasn't crying first of all,' he clarified.
He further elaborated, 'I don't I don't I don't have emotions. i was raised by a dril,l so I don't have.
So I have allergies and my eye leaks a ,lot so like right now it's leaking so I was going like this so of course when you have that moment it makes it look emotional. I don't get emotional.'
Referring to his current mental state amidst his show Inside the NBA's renewal, he said:
'Am I sad that the show is leaving? Yes but I've been programmed to do something new after every four years so I've been with Inside the NBA 12 years that's three military terms and now it's just time to do something else.'
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Opening up further on the insinuations regarding new format of the show, he hilariously pointed out, 'But if you look at the reality of the situation we all resigned we're going to be there, we're shooting in the same place, everybody's coming back the name and the title is going to be different.'
He further joked about the restrictions they might face in the new show and said, 'Only thing I'm concerned with is we're going on a bigger network, will they be able to handle handle our shenanigans? can Charles talk about fat women in San Antonio? can you know can we talk about people's hairlines and you know make them cut their hair, that's the only thing I'm worried about.'
Shaquille O'Neal showed up his entertaining side on the podcast and provided the fans with the proof why his 36-year old show was a hit as he held the front with his sheer wit and knowledge.
Shaquille O'Neal opened up on very personal moments when he had actually cried in his entire life
Further in the podcast, he got very candid talking about the real 'emotional' moments of his life when he actually cried. He said that he had cried only twice or thrice in his entire life. Taking fans to those moments, he revealed:
'I was I was raised where I'm not allowed to have emotions only cried twice three times -
grandmother's death father's death and sister's death - and not because I was sad because I forgot to tell him thank you, i got to fulfill my grandmother's favorite wish.'
He further reminisced about the moment when he gifted his grandmother a home she wanted, and shared the reason behind doing so. He said:
'like being a a a high level juvenile delinquent she was the only one that didn't discipline me everybody discipline me I get in trouble she'd be like "Baby it's all right." So one day I said "If grandma when I get rich I'm going to buy you a house."
'You know what she says i want that house across the street it wasn't no fancy {----} like we lived there it was a house across the street we I grew up in 100 Oak Street in Jersey City she wanted cuz the lady was over there her her [ __ ] was nice it was manicured so when I got some money I knocked on the lady's door said "I want to buy your house."
And she gave me a price and I doubled her price and I bought my grandmother her house, bought her our first car like she like so I got to do things for them but I never got to tell him thank you so that's why I cry.
'
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Sharing another recent loss he bore, which made him cry, he elaborated, 'My My father recently passed yes yes and it's the most I've cried in my life for that week it kind of help it it helped me crying it helped me to show I guess, we used to call it weakness right you know what I'm saying is it healthy that you like it's almost like we take a pride in not being emotional but we can
be we allowed to i don't know if it's healthy or unhealthy,
but you know the old saying, if it ain't broke, don't fix it..
mhm I am who I am and I've been very successful doing it this way, I got to I got to keep it like this.'
Shaquille O'Neal revealed why he tried not to lose his cool ever during games in the same podcast. He said that his behavior would not be approved by his mother, and he always thought about what his mother would think. And that thought kept him in control and prevented him from saying any bad words or behaving badly.
Also Read:
Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal and other NBA legends bid goodbye to fans as Inside the NBA on TNT ends on an emotional note
Shaquille O'Neal recently bid adieu to TNT, where he ran a talk show, Inside the NBA, for 36 years. The show's future is yet to be decided as ESPN has bought the rights for the same and plans to use it as a part of pregame and postgame programing.