Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
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ON SET — Former NBA star Shaquille O'Neal is 7-foot-1.
That doesn't make him the tallest player ever from the NBA, but that's plenty tall to be intimidating on the court and in everyday life. But it turns out that not everyone sees Shaq as the 320-pound physical obstacle he is.
Shaq is one of several hosts on NBA on TNT, including another former NBA player, Kenny Smith. It's well-known that Shaq is good humored and can basically be the biggest goof in the room, but Kenny still had to use all his guts to give Shaq a very risky "holiday surprise."
During their show on December 6, both men bolt to the back of the set in an apparent race. That's when Kenny full-body checks Shaq, who then "gracefully" tips over into a big ol' Christmas tree. It's both shocking and hysterical. (Quick reminder: both of these men are in their 50s.)
Three things happen that make this funnier.
- Kenny is so much smaller than Shaq (even at 6' 3") that the size disparity makes everything cartoonish.
- The only thing you can see of Shaq after the fall is his two feet poking out of the bottom tree and weakly moving like a toddler who has given up on life for the day.
- Somehow Shaq's glasses remain on his face and are not even a little bit askew.
Shaq is definitely laughing, but he does let Kenny know that "this means war." It's clear that Kenny is well aware of this as he bounces on his toes very far away and ready to flee in case the bear he just poked starts to charge.
Believe it or not, this is not Kenny's first time knocking Shaq into a Christmas tree on set. Hilariously enough, the same thing happened in 2014 in almost the exact same way but with a much smaller tree. In that video, Shaq also declares war, but since Kenny perpetrated a second attack, it seems like Shaq will not win the war anytime soon.
