Shaq’s tensions with Sharpe finally boiled over and led to their beef.

Many fans complain nowadays that professional athletes are too friendly with one another. They only need to look at Shaquille O’Neal and Shannon Sharpe’s beef, which has sprung up in recent months, to see that’s not true.

O’Neal and Sharpe’s beef has largely settled down now, but at its peak, the pair were exchanging jabs at each other, and Shaq even made a diss track aimed at the retired NFL star. The legendary NBA big man explained his side of the story when reflecting on the beef.

O’Neal explains why he’s so upset with Sharpe

Things flared up between these two when Shaq said he believed that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander should have won the 2024 NBA MVP award over Nikola Jokic.

Sharpe suggested that O’Neal was jealous of Jokic’s accomplishments and that things had taken off from there.

It’s not every day that you see two retired athletes going at each other, but that was precisely what happened.

When discussing the ordeal, O’Neal shared that he was upset that Sharpe was putting words into his mouth and acting like he knew him when, in reality, he didn’t know him at all.

“I just think that in order to talk about certain things you have to have G-14 classification,” O’Neal said on Point Game. “And not only that, when you talk, make it make sense. When you say you don’t take it seriously, why do I have three retired jerseys? Why do I have two statues?… Don’t talk like you know me.”

Shaq makes his point on the Shannon beef clear

Everyone has their opinions on who should win what sports awards, so Shaq saying that Gilgeous-Alexander should have won over Jokic wasn’t a problem. What was a problem, though, was when Sharpe acted like he knew what O’Neal was thinking.

The Hall of Fame Center had reasons for feeling that way, which was fine. Shanon took things a step too far, and chaos ensued. Shaq proceeded to attack Sharpe’s legacy, noting how they aren’t even comparable in terms of greatness.

While Sharpe was a Hall of Fame tight end in the NFL, he wasn’t nearly as dominant at his sport of choice as O’Neal was. Shaq doesn’t want to hear any comparisons to the former Denver Broncos star, because they aren’t equal in his eyes.

Thankfully, the bickering between these two has stopped for the time being, but there’s no love lost between them. Hopefully, they can stay out of each other’s way moving forward, or else there may be more diss tracks coming out in the future.