The Warriors have "reached out to Turner Sports" to discuss Shaquille O'Neal's ongoing coverage of C JaVale McGee on TNT, according to sources cited by Haynes & Stein of ESPN.com. Sources said that the Warriors "contacted Turner officials to express concern about TNT's years-long McGee coverage on the 'Shaqtin' a Fool' segment" on "Inside the NBA." The team is "contending that the ongoing negative portrayal of the veteran center is doing unnecessary damage to McGee's reputation." A Turner source "confirmed the discussions with the Warriors." The source said the matter "has been discussed internally" after a Twitter feud erupted Thursday night between O'Neal and McGee. McGee has "been a mainstay of O'Neal's weekly 'Shaqtin' a Fool' blooper reel." But the network "took it a step further Thursday night when it aired a 'Doctor Strange' piece devoted exclusively to McGee bloopers." That "prompted a nasty exchange of tweets Thursday night between McGee and O'Neal." Warriors coach Steve Kerr "acknowledged being influenced by TNT segments." Kerr: "When you're in this position, where somebody on national TV is making fun of you night after night after night, it's not the greatest thing for your reputation. I can tell you I had a preconceived notion of JaVale before he got here that turned out to be totally false. And a lot of that was because of what goes on with Shaq's 'Shaqtin' a Fool'" (ESPN.com, 2/25). O'Neal over the weekend said he has "orders from the top to leave it alone." Asked if NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was the person who told him to stop, O'Neal said, "No. My mama. Just say Shaq’s mom called him, told him, ‘Stop this silliness. Leave him alone.’ So that’s the end of the beef. You won’t be hearing about it from my side anymore" (THEUNDEFEATED.com, 2/26).
NO BIG FALLOUT EXPECTED: The Undefeated's Mike Wise said it is unlikely O'Neal is "going to lose his job" at TNT over the McGee situation. The most he probably will get is a "reprimand" from Turner President David Levy ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 2/27). ESPN's Bomani Jones said the O'Neal-McGee feud is "so far passed the point of being anything funny." Jones: "Shaq messed it up. We can't laugh at JaVale McGee anymore. It's just gone too far." ESPN's Mike Golic: "It just went on a little long. There's funny and then we move on" ("Mike & Mike," ESPN Radio, 2/27).
US AGAINST THE WORLD: In San Jose, Anthony Slater noted this "isn’t the first time the Warriors have had a war of words with the TNT crew." Charles Barkley on the show has "regularly criticized Golden State’s style of play, angering the team and their fans." After Shaq’s segment "killing McGee on Thursday night, Barkley laughed about it." Barkley told O'Neal, “I want to thank you for getting me off the Golden State hitlist. They’re going to hate you more than they hate me" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 2/25).
