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Shaquille O'Neal Received Unfortunate News While Teasing Rockets-Grizzlies TNT Game

Late Ja Morant scratch news did not make it to Shaq in time.

Kyle Koster

Shaquille O'Neal was looking forward to seeing Ja Morant play.
Shaquille O'Neal was looking forward to seeing Ja Morant play. / Awful Announcing on X
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When the Cleveland Cavaliers' blowout victory over the Atlanta Hawks ended on TNT Thursday night, it was time for Inside the NBA to look forward to Houston Rockets-Memphis Grizzlies in the nightcap. Shaquille O'Neal shared what he was most excited to watch as two of the top three teams in the Western Conference squared off.

"I'm looking forward to the Ja Morant-Jalen Green matchup," he said.

It then became Ernie Johnson's solemn duty to inform O'Neal that Morant would not be playing in the game due to injury.

Like a pro, O'Neal quickly pivoted and told the audience at home to forget what he had just said.

Morant has struggled to get onto the court this season, having missed 20 games due to injury. But in O'Neal's defense, the star guard had played in the Grizzlies' last two games and was only ruled out of the game roughly three hours before the analyst made his comments.

Even without Morant, Memphis was able to squeak by Houston with a 120-119 victory.

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Kyle Koster
KYLE KOSTER

Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.

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