A sports content creator in Washington, D.C., blasted NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal for telling her to get a life and a real job. She stated that he was “being weird again,” and many became disillusioned with Shaq, who eventually deleted his comment as the backlash grew to epic proportions.
Coach Jackie J shared the uncomfortable interaction she had with Shaq. She is a sports content creator with hundreds of thousands of followers online. Her Shaq clip went viral relatively quickly, garnering 2.5 million views, 382,300, and more than 2,500 comments on TikTok alone.
Apparently, Shaq’s comment was his reaction to Coach Jackie’s previous clip in which she said that ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith should be fired after flirting with his colleague, Chiney Ogwumike, live on-air.
She showed Shaq’s comment, which read, “Stop reaching get a life lady no get a real job.”
Coach Jackie Claps Back
The D.C. woman, who captioned her clip, “Shaq is being weird again,” pointed out that the NBA legend was a 54-year-old man. In contrast, Coach Jackie is his daughter’s age, but she didn’t find it out-of-character. According to her, Shaq has said “weird” things to a similarly aged woman in the past.
“Do you remember that, Shaq?” Coach Jackie asked. “When you went on Angel Reese’s podcast and said the only way anybody would watch the WNBA is if they lower the rims and then the women dunk in booty shorts?“
Coach Jackie explained that commenting on women’s sports was, in fact, her job, and admitted that her brand deals can be “kind of embarrassing.” However, she added that Shaq knew about embarrassing brand deals, sharing pictures of the Shaq-A-Roni and the panned film Kazaam, featuring Shaquille O’Neal as a 5,000-year-old genie.
The Washington, D.C. woman also implied that Shaq’s defense of Stephen A. Smith meant he would do something similar. However, she refrained from saying it directly, just like everything above.
Instead, she decided to be the bigger person, adding, “Which was pretty impressive considering that Shaq is famously huge.”
Disappointed In Shaq
The video sparked multiple responses. Some users were disappointed in Shaq. One viewer commented, “Oh, I thought Shaq was cool. This sucks.” Another one said, “I’ve been living under a rock, turns out I don’t like Shaq.”
Others were quick to point out that Shaq had deleted his comment, with one viewer writing, “Oopsies, he deleted his comment!” Meanwhile, a small group of viewers defended Shaq, with one saying, “It’s Shaq, so it’s ok.”
With such a high-profile celebrity being the focus of the controversy, and with Shaq being historically well-liked, it is no wonder Coach Jackie’s clip exploded online. The NBA legend has yet to address his comment, but chances are he won’t.
