Shaquille O Neal has downplayed the title chances for the Phoenix Suns, the NBA’s best team, in several instances over the past few months.
It began in February when he said during an NBA On TNT segment the Suns “can be punked.” Then O’Neal predicted on March 24 the struggling Los Angeles Lakers could oust Phoenix in the playoffs first round, and on Tuesday he claimed the middling L.A. Clippers’ coach Ty Lue is his pick for Coach of The Year over the favorite in Suns coach Monty Williams.
Given that, Suns fans may have enjoyed when O’Neal was punked with an April Fools Joke early Friday. The show’s panelists Adam Lefkoe, Kenny Smith and Shaq’s fellow Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas reviewed Bleacher Report’s faux all-time top 10 centers list.
After they rolled out the top three starting with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain, things became peculiar to O’Neal not seeing his name up high.
The fourth, fifth and sixth were David Robinson, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Alonzo Mourning, respectively, and Thomas began to troll O’Neal when he said, “Wait, somebody’s missing.”
“What?!” Smith yelled.
“Who put this list together?!” Thomas said in shock.
Then the faces of Jack Sikma and Shaq’s longtime target for vitriol Dwight Howard popped up at seven and eight, which made the panelists roar in disbelief.
O’Neal finally showed up at nine, which had a hilarious photo of him embracing a seal. The 10th was Brad Miller, who Shaq got in a memorable in-game fight with in 2002 when he played for the Lakers and Miller was on the Chicago Bulls.
As they closed out the list and Smith yelled April Fools, the entire crew laughed hard as O’Neal stood up and sighed with relief.
“OK, I’m about to tear this set up!” O’Neal playfully and repeatedly said while he shook his head and did martial arts style moves.
Then they reviewed his flustered facial expressions as they said the list’s names.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Shaquille O’Neal gets pranked hard in NBA On TNT’s April Fools joke