Shaquille O’Neal has made it clear that he is not going to change at his soon-to-be new network.
While appearing on the “Rich Eisen Show” on Friday, O’Neal reiterated that neither he nor his co-host Charles Barkley would alter their personalities to suit ESPN.
“I’m not worried because there’s one person who will never change, and there’s another person who’s very close to him,” O’Neal remarked. “As for the others — Ernie [Johnson] is an ultimate professional and can adjust to any scenario.
“Ernie is the one who really keeps us out of trouble, and Kenny is a professional too, but Chuck is always toeing the line, and I’m just right below him. Chuck isn’t changing, and neither am I.”
O’Neal, 53, also pointed to “The Pat McAfee Show” on the network as a model that “Inside the NBA” could potentially follow next season.
“I actually saw something yesterday where it said ESPN is going to give us the same no-look that they give Pat McAfee,” O’Neal added. “So, listen, we’re just going to go have fun, do what we do and talk about the game that we love and just try to make people laugh.”
Both O’Neal and Barkley have insisted on multiple occasions that they plan to stay the same despite the network change, with the latter saying last month that he dares ESPN to fire him.
“I’m not going to change my personality,” Barkley said during an episode of Outkick’s “Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich,” per Awful Announcing.
“Ain’t nobody — they can’t fire me. I make too much money to get fired. So, they can’t fire me. First of all, if they fire me, they got to pay me for seven years, and I’m going to quit way before then. But if they want to fire me, I would love for them to do that.
“The only decision we’ve been making is how long I’m going to work. … I’m not worried about getting fired. And nobody at ESPN is going to tell me what to say or do. Period.”
“Inside the NBA,” which has aired on TNT since 1989, will make the switch over to ESPN next season.
Turner is still set to produce the show by licensing it to ESPN.
