O'Neal joked about the Lakers and Raptors, and even brought out a Papa John's pizza for Charles BarkleyNBAE/GETTY IMAGES
Shaquille O'Neal hosted the NBA Awards show last night on TNT, and he took jabs at several players and teams in his opening monologue. He addressed the league's biggest pending trade, saying, "Anthony Davis is going to the Lakers. They had to give up a lot. Literally, they had to cut their Balls off to make this trade.” Images of Lonzo and LaVar Ball were shown on-screen behind O'Neal. He congratulated the Raptors for winning the NBA title and defeating the “Warrior." O'Neal: "That’s right, they only beat one single Warrior. The rest of the team was hurt. ... You won it all. I love their new star player (F Kawhi Leonard), I love their new coach (Nick Nurse) and I truly love their new mascot (Drake).” After several awards were handed out, O'Neal sat down next to Charles Barkley to chat with him. After Barkley’s stomach grumbled, O'Neal had a Papa John’s pizza brought to the table. O'Neal, who is on the BOD for Papa John’s, said, “Enjoy your snack” (“NBA Awards,” TNT, 6/24).
TOUGH TO WATCH: SI.com's Rohan Nadkarni writes under the header, "The NBA Awards Show Is Painful To Watch." Nadkarni writes the show is a "complete waste of time and needs to be abandoned immediately." The event "wasn't only boring, it was often excruciating to watch." Presenters either were "shamefully promoting their next project ... or completely random." The emotional moments of the night "didn't fully resonate because of the checked-out nature of the show." Nadkarni: "The two-hour-plus event is basically an excuse for the NBA's corporate partners to shove themselves down our throats" (SI.com, 6/25).
GET IN THE WAY-BACK MACHINE: In Toronto, Doug Smith wrote he can see why the NBA has "gone to a one-time event" to hand out its awards, but he did not believe there would be an "awful lot of interest in the show or who wins what." Smith: "Strikes me that the old way, when awards were parceled out during the first couple rounds of the playoffs and fans got to fete winners from their own teams was far better and I wish they'd go back to that" (THESTAR.com, 6/24).
