Shaquille O’Neal was a dominating beast on the NBA court that opponents were wary of. However, in his retirement, O’Neal has become a fan favorite due to his pleasant personality, which is on display through his various media commitments across the world of entertainment.
Despite Shaq’s friendliness, the 4-time NBA Champion is often the subject of ridicule from the fans for various things. This can include his NBA takes that fans don’t agree with or even his size. NBA players are no strangers to anonymous hate coming in on Twitter and other social media apps, so some often see the humor in the creative ways fans insult them.
In 2021, Jimmy Kimmel did their annual edition of NBA Mean Tweets, a show where NBA players and personalities read mean tweets about themselves. The 2021 edition didn’t just feature Shaq responding to a fat criticizing his weight but also included NBA players like Brandon Ingram, Kyle Lowry, Domantas Sabonis, Trae Young, Zach LaVine, Pascal Siakam, Spencer Dinwiddie, Ja Morant, Grant Hill, Khris Middleton, Kemba Walker, and many others.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiNO4jAJ8xk
All the players took the tweets in positive spirits and joked back with the audience. Tweets that are selected for shows like this are usually tame, but these players receive some very hateful messages off and on, especially after poor on-court performances.
NBA Fans are currently trolling Dejounte Murray for his actions at pro-am games and his budding rivalry with Paolo Banchero. Fans will always direct their energy to troll and hate on things towards others and these tweets are just another example of it.
This annual trend is quite enjoyable as the Jimmy Kimmel show picks fun tweets that will elicit fun responses from the fans. What fans can actually see being said to these players on Twitter is infinitely worse most other times.
