"A master marketeer": NBA fans ridicule Shaquille O'Neal for massive blunder over Pistons coach

During Tuesday's "Inside the NBA" show, NBA legend and sports analyst Shaquille O'Neal referred to Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups while lauding the Detroit Pistons' performance as of late. When called out on his mistake, O'Neal said he does not watch the Pistons' games.

Reacting to the moment, NBA fans took to X, formerly Twitter, to ridicule O'Neal for his blunder over the Piston's coach.

"Well yeah he's a master marketer," a fan tweeted.

"A company is paying this man millions of dollars for a basketball show and just gets blatant information wrong. Insane," a fan tweeted.

"Guy has PTSD from 2004," a fan tweeted.

"I mean give the guy a break, Portland is only about 2,400 miles away from Detroit. Almost anyone can get those cities mixed up. I’m just saying," a fan tweeted.

"How is he that big of a casual. And then he goes on podcasts and acts like his word is fact," a fan tweeted.

"They don’t actually watch ball they get paid to make people laugh & stir s**t up but it’s killing the NBA discourse among real ball fans," a fan tweeted.

Coached by J.B. Bickerstaff, the Detroit Pistons currently stand sixth in the Eastern Conference with 37-29 record. It is a significant improvement given that the team previously failed to secure over 23 wins in their past six seasons.

Meanwhile, Chauncey Billups previously played for the Pistons for seven seasons during his NBA career as a player. Billups also led Detroit to a championship in 2004 against the Shaquille O'Neal-led LA Lakers and clinched the Finals MVP award.

Shaquille O'Neal downplays Zion Williamson's triple-double performance

Shaquille O'Neal was not impressed by Zion Williamson's triple-double performance against the LA Clippers on Tuesday. The New Orleans Pelicans star dropped 22 points, 10 rebounds, 12 assists, and a block in the game to lead his team to a 127-120 home victory over the Clippers.

While discussing his performace on the "Inside the NBA" show after the game, Shaq called for Zion to record 26+ point games to be celebrated as a marquee player.

"They're giving him props for that? I need more," O'Neal said. "... I need 26 (or) 27. I demand for my franchise player to play at the maximum (level). Don't be giving props for 20 points. Anybody can get 20 points now."

O'Neal received pushback for his take from his co-host Adam Lefkoe who asked him if he can "be happy that (Williamson's) playing," given his extensive injury history. However, the LA Lakers legend doubled-down on his stance.

"Happy is good. Lower your voice when you talk about that kind of stuff. That's good, but that's not good enough," O'Neal said.

Shaquille O'Neal is often overly critical of frontcourt stars, especially centers whom he feels that he could have dominated during his prime as a player. On his part, Zion Williamson, who recorded his second triple-double in two weeks, was as confident as ever following his performance on Tuesday.