Shaquille O’Neal ate a large slice of humble pie on Sunday night.
The former NBA star-turned-analyst said on “Inside the NBA” before Game 4 of Suns vs. Nuggets that Phoenix star Devin Booker, who had a dazzling 20-for-25 shooting night (47 points) in꧃ Game 3, would not have a repeat performance in h🉐im for Game 4.
Booker then went out and shot 14-for-18, scoring 36 points in the Suns’ Game 4 win, and Shaq issued him a public apology after the game was over.
“Devin Booker I’m sorry, I owe you an apology,” Shaq said. “I got on TV and said you would not go 20-for-25 again, you messed around and went 14-for-18.
“So sir, I apologize. Love the way you’re playing. And again, now we have a series.”
The Suns tied up the series, 2-2, behind Booker’s second straight electrifying shooting performance, with the 26-year-old now having hit 79 percent of his shots over the past two games to bring Phoenix back from a 2-0 deficit.
Kevin Durant added 36 points of his own, and Landry Shamet — who didn’t even get on the floor in Game 2 — was the surprise third scorer without the injured Chris Paul, pouring in 19 points and five 3-pointers.
It was enough to hold off a heroic performance from Nuggets star Nikola Jokic, who scored 53 points (a Denver franchise playoff record) and 🌠added 11 assists in the loss.
The series now returns to Denver for a cruꦕcial Game 5 on Tuesജday.
It’s not the first time Shaq has made a public apology to a player; in 2021, while interviewing then-Rockets big man Christian Wood after a 27-point performance in a win over the Spurs, O’Neal famously told him, “I owe you an apology. I wasn’t familiar with your game.”
Wood responded to O’Neal’s quote, which has since become a meme, by saying: “Oh man, you’re a casual.”