Shaquille O’Neal ate a big slice of humble pie on Sunday night.
The previous NBA star-turned-analyst said on “Contained in the NBA” before Game 4 of Suns vs. Nuggets that Phoenix star Devin Booker, who had a blinding 20-for-25 shooting night (47 points) in Game 3, wouldn’t have a repeat performance in him for Game 4.
Booker then went out and shot 14-for-18, scoring 36 points within the Suns’ Game 4 win, and Shaq issued him a public apology after the sport was over.
“Devin Booker I’m sorry, I owe you an apology,” Shaq said. “I got on TV and said you wouldn’t go 20-for-25 again, you messed around and went 14-for-18.
“So sir, I apologize. Love the best way you’re playing. And again, now we’ve got a series.”
The Suns tied up the series, 2-2, behind Booker’s second straight electrifying shooting performance, with the 26-year-old now having hit 79 percent of his shots over the past two games to bring Phoenix back from a 2-0 deficit.
Kevin Durant added 36 points of his own, and Landry Shamet — who didn’t even get on the ground in Game 2 — was the surprise third scorer without the injured Chris Paul, pouring in 19 points and five 3-pointers.
It was enough to carry off a heroic performance from Nuggets star Nikola Jokic, who scored 53 points (a Denver franchise playoff record) and added 11 assists within the loss.
The series now returns to Denver for a vital Game 5 on Tuesday.
It’s not the primary time Shaq has made a public apology to a player; in 2021, while interviewing then-Rockets big man Christian Wood after a 27-point performance in a win over the Spurs, O’Neal famously told him, “I owe you an apology. I wasn’t accustomed to your game.”
Wood responded to O’Neal’s quote, which has since turn into a meme, by saying: “Oh man, you’re an informal.”