default-cbs-image

Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant and coach Steve Kerr came to JaVale McGee’s defense on Friday after the center and TNT analyst Shaquille O’Neal had a nasty back-and-forth on Twitter. Durant called O’Neal “childish” for the way he has targeted McGee, and Kerr told reporters that O’Neal’s “Shaqtin’ A Fool” segment has unfairly harmed McGee’s reputation and career.

“JaVale works extremely hard, has come in here and done extremely well as a player,” Durant told reporters, via the San Jose Mercury News’ Anthony Slater. “He only wants to be respected like anybody else. I understand that Shaq works for a company that wants him to do that type of stuff, make fun of players. It’s cool, it’s funny, but when you keep doing it time and time and time again and a guy actually disagrees with you and you threaten him -- I didn’t know cops could threaten civilians like that. It’s definitely childish. But that’s what they want from these stars and these retired players, is to feud with the guy who’s playing now and make arguments and disagreements. If I was JaVale, I’d feel the same way. It’s childish.”

O’Neal did indeed threaten McGee on Twitter, which is more than a little bit troubling. This whole thing started with O’Neal innocently poking fun at some of McGee’s goofier on-court gaffes on TV, but it has evolved into something much less fun. McGee made it clear long ago that he was not in on the joke, and O’Neal responded by making it even more personal. Both sides come off horribly in the Twitter fight, and it’s absurd that this has become such a serious feud. 

From McGee’s perspective, though, it makes sense that he’d be mad about TNT running a “Doctor Strange” parody trailer starring his worst professional moments. The Warriors center is in the midst of his best season since 2012-13, but to a lot of people he will forever be the “Shaqtin’ A Fool” guy.

“I don’t blame him for being frustrated,” Kerr said. “Shaq’s been picking on him for years and years and years, and I think JaVale, rightfully so, is frustrated. It’s like, it never ends. It’s one thing to have a little fun, but I think you can go a little bit over the top. So it’s one of those things. And you think about JaVale’s career, I mean, when you’re in this position where somebody on national TV is making fun of you 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.’ So it’s unfortunate.”

Durant agreed that O’Neal has affected McGee’s career. The superstar also said he was glad to see that McGee had challenged O’Neal rather than staying silent about it.

“Shaq wants to make a joke about it, but if it was him in that position, he’d feel the same way,” Durant said. “We couldn’t call him a bum and all this because he’s such a great player, obviously. But still, everybody can’t be Shaq. He’s trying to make his money and enjoy the game of basketball and the perception of him now is that he’s a dumb player because he makes mistakes out there on the court. Shaq was a s----y free throw shooter, he missed dunks, he airballed free throws, he couldn’t shoot outside the paint. He was bigger than everyone, didn’t have no skill, bigger and stronger than everyone. Still a great player, but you had your flaws as a player and you played on five or six teams, too. So it’s not like he’s just some perfect center. You had your flaws, too.”

Durant added that it’s hard to shake labels in the NBA, but McGee is “changing some people’s minds about what he’s doing as a player because he’s playing so well.” He finished his strong defense of his teammate by telling O’Neal to “respect that man.”