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Shaquille O'Neal-Shannon Sharpe beef reaches diss track level. Here's how we got here.

Chuck Schilken, Los Angeles Times on

Published in Basketball

LOS ANGELES — In the pantheon of celebrity feuds, Shaquille O'Neal versus Shannon Sharpe isn't exactly Kendrick Lamar versus Drake.

But it might be getting into that territory. Why? Because Shaq just released a diss track.

And what's a good beef without a rap release to commemorate it?

Here's how we got to this point:

How it started

O'Neal is considered one of the greatest big men in NBA history. He won four NBA championships — three with Kobe Bryant, Phil Jackson and the Lakers (2000, 2001, 2002); one with Dwyane Wade, Pat Riley and the Miami Heat (2006) — and was the NBA Finals MVP for all three of the L.A. title runs.

 

O'Neal was named the league MVP for the 1999-2000 season — the only time in his career that honor was bestowed upon him — and finished as the runner-up in MVP voting twice, for his 1994-1995 season with the Orlando Magic and his 2004-2005 season with the Heat.

O'Neal is currently an analyst on TNT's "Inside the NBA." On Wednesday night's show, Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic was announced as the league's MVP for the third time in four years. After reading off a number of Jokic's stats from the regular season — 26.4 points per game (10th in the league), 12.4 rebounds (fourth), nine assists (third), 25 triple-doubles (second) — host Ernie Johnson asked O'Neal for his thoughts.

Shaq immediately voiced his displeasure with how the MVP voting turned out, stating he thought the award should have gone to Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

"I don't like to rain on people's parade, but I'm not happy with this one," O'Neal said. "Congratulations to Joker, you are the best big man in the league, but ... I thought Shai Alexander deserved it."

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