Shaquille O’Neal dives headfirst into Christmas tree after Ernie Johnson dares him, “You won’t dive into that tree right now”

NBA legend and TNT analyst Shaquille O’Neal never shies away from a challenge. Such was the case during Tuesday night’s TNT broadcast, where O’Neal accepted one of his strangest challenges yet.

The TNT crew first started talking about how O’Neal would not jump into their studio Christmas tree.

“Say I won’t Ernie (Johnson),” O’Neal said.

“There’s no way you’ll dive into that tree right now,” co-host Ernie Johnson jokingly responded.

“Say I won’t dive into that tree right now,” O’Neal said again.

“You won’t dive into that tree right now,” Johnson played along.

“Face first. Face first,” O’Neal responded with a smirk as he accepted the challenge.

Shaquille O’Neal then stood up and dived headfirst into the enormous Christmas tree, breaking many of the tree’s branches in the process.

“We need a new tree now, man. Come on now. Hey man, we need a new tree,” co-host Kenny Smith joked.

O’Neal then picked up some of the broken branches and fallen Christmas ornaments and walked back to the studio desk.

Meanwhile, Charles Barkley couldn’t even believe that the tree was real.

“What’s all that dirt?” Barkley asked O’Neal.

“That’s a real tree Chuck,” Johnson said to Barkley, who was sitting in disbelief.

“They didn’t clean it?” Barkley asked.

“It’s a tree. The branches break,” Smith then explained to Barkley.

“What happens when you break a branch?” Johnson added sarcastically.

“What happens when you break a branch? Your Mama beats the hell out of you,” Barkley joked.

Then, just as Shaquille O’Neal was finished dusting himself off, Ernie Johnson had maybe the line of the night.

“I know you won’t do that again,” Johnson jokingly dared O’Neal a second time before stopping him from accepting the challenge again.

For the full segment, watch below.

Shaquille O’Neal gets pushed into Christmas tree by Kenny Smith

Shaquille O'Neal getting helped up after being pushed into a Christmas tree by co-host Kenny Smith

Shaquille O’Neal intentionally diving into the TNT studio Christmas tree wasn’t the only time he ended up in the tree during Tuesday's broadcast. In an earlier part of the broadcast, O’Neal and Smith teamed up for what appeared to be a skit.

O’Neal and Smith started racing towards the big studio screen before Smith's push sent O'Neal flying into the tree. O’Neal then pretended to be injured for a few seconds before getting up and laughing it off.

The hilarious moment later led some fans to recall a similar moment from seven years ago when a nearly identical skit took place.

So if there is one lesson to be learned from Tuesday’s NBA on TNT broadcast, it’s that no Christmas tree is safe when Shaquille O’Neal is around.

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