There’s another brewing beef in the podcast world, between former NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal and former NBA star Matt Barnes, with the latter alleging that O’Neal is offering money to get incriminating information about Shannon Sharpe. Barnes reportedly claimed in an audio clip that recently surfaced in a post by DJ Akademiks.
“I was in a group chat the other day, or actually, just yesterday,” Barnes began, hinting that O’Neal is specifically looking for information claiming that Sharpe is a closeted gay man. “And Shaq said he’s paying top dollar for any information on our boy. So, again, I don’t know if y’all are on that kind of time or not. But Shaq is known to throw large sums of money around. So, just want to put that out there.”
The clip DJ Akademiks played was originally posted on controversial blogger Tasha K’s Instagram page. Tasha K then posted alleged private messages she received from Barnes, who was angered over the post and claimed it was faked. “Y’all keep playin and ima sue you for this s—. This AI doctored auto. Y’all some clowns.” In another message, he added, “Y’all post me again w some bulls—t & ima sue you.” The 45-year-old former star with the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors wrote in another message, “Haha…you should know I have no issue admitting when I’ve f—d up.”
The allegations come a year after the Club Shay Shay host and ESPN analyst, Sharpe, got into it with the Inside The NBA co-host after the two disagreed over Denver Nuggets star center Nikola Jokic being chosen as NBA MVP for the third time in four years. O’Neal would tell Jokic in an interview that he felt that the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander should’ve won.
Sharpe disagreed, stating on his The Nightcap podcast that he felt that O’Neal’s criticism of Jokic’s accolades showed the Hall of Famer was “envious of that,” having only been named MVP once in his career. O’Neal responded in four posts on Instagram, including a diss track aimed at Sharpe. The First Take contributor chose to not address the comments. “I mean, I don’t have no problem with Shaq,” the Pro Football Hall of Famer told a reporter from People during an interview at the Webby Awards. “He said what he said, I’m ready to move on.”
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