Charles Barkley Cries Out in Disbelief Unaware of 7ft 1 Shaquille O’Neal’s Humbling Truth

Shaquille O’Neal took the honor of presenting the 2023-24 Kia NBA Sixth Man of the Year, one of the most-awaited announcements, due to the tight competition between its final candidates. The Minnesota Timberwolves can finally boast that they have a 6MOTY winner because Naz Reid is the only player in the franchise to win this honor. However, the most surprising part wasn’t Reid winning the 6MOTY, but an unknown truth about Shaq’s off-the-bench stat, which stunned Charles Barkley. 

Before Shaq announced the award on live TV, co-host Ernie Johnson shared on Inside the NBA, “Shaquille O’Neal, a guy who came off the bench in 10 games in his career,”. Even before Johnson could finish, Barkley chimed in and screamed, “You came off the bench?! He came off the bench?!” Shaq was a 7’1 giant in his entry into the league. Even during his rookie season with the Orlando Magic, Shaq played all 81 games as a starter. 

A young Shaq came off the bench for the first time in his third season in the NBA. He played only one game as a sixth man in 1995, in which he scored 26 points, and 11 rebounds in just 24 minutes. He has come off the bench, twice for the Magic, five times for the Los Angeles Lakers, twice for the Miami Heat, and once for the Boston Celtics. Out of this, his best display was against the Warriors in 1998, where he dropped 33 points and 10 rebounds in just 33 minutes, for the Lakers. So it’s only fair that Shaq announced the 6MOTY!

More to come… 

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