Shaquille O’Neal gets babied on NBA Twitter after childish Bol Bol cereal bowl stunt

NBA legend-turned-TNT analyst Shaquille O’Neal promoted one of his favorite players, Phoenix Suns center Bol Bol, on Thursday. However, the big man did so unconventionally, leaving NBA fans roasting him on X/Twitter.

During halftime of TNT’s Suns vs. Boston Celtics broadcast, O’Neal brought out a bowl and mini boxes of different cereal flavors. He poured them one by one into the bowl while expressing his excitement to talk about Bol.

“We’re gonna talk about my boy, Bol Bol,” O’Neal said. “I’m gonna have some delicious breakfast treats like I used to do back in the day.”

O’Neal’s comedy bit confused his co-host Charles Barkley, who questioned how it related to Bol, prompting a humorous back-and-forth exchange.

“This ain’t no bowl, dummy?” O’Neal said.

“What’s that got to do with cereal?” Barkley asked.

“Cereal goes into what, dummy? A bowl. Bol Bol,” O’Neal said.

O’Neal’s other co-host Ernie Johnson Jr. pointed out that it would have made more sense for him to bring two bowls. However, not only did the former MVP not have a second bowl, but he didn’t even bring milk for his cereal. He instead opted to pour hot tea over it.

“Back in the day when you didn’t have milk, you’d pour whatever you want,” O’Neal said.

“What is that?” Johnson asked.

“Hot tea,” O’Neal said.

“Hot tea over a gauntlet of cereals,” Johnson said.

O’Neal proceeded to eat his bizarre mixture while hyping Bol again.

“Bol Bol, baby!” O’Neal shouted.

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NBA fans disgusted by Shaquille O’Neal’s cereal bowl concoction

While Shaquille O’Neal appeared to enjoy his cereal with hot tea, fans on X reacted in disgust, with many mocking him.

“I can't with this man, LOL. I was pleading for there to be milk somewhere,” one fan said.

“Come on, Shaq,” another captioned a Jim Carrey puking GIF.

Below are a few more of the top fan reactions to O’Neal eating cereal with hot tea:

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Shaquille O’Neal raves about Bol Bol after cereal bowl bit

After finishing his cereal with hot tea, Shaquille O’Neal raved about Bol Bol’s first-half performance. The 24-year-old recorded 10 points on a perfect 4-for-4 shooting, three rebounds and two 3-pointers in just eight minutes.

O’Neal highlighted how Bol is one of the most talented big men he’s ever seen. He added that the 7-foot-3 center is the prototype for versatile 7-footers with guard-like skills.

“Bol Bol has always had this talent,” O’Neal said. “I coached him in high school. He has the ability to hit the shot. Like I’ve been saying before, he’s the first 7-foot-5 guy to be able to do everything.

“I know you guys talked about Victor Wembanyama yesterday, but Bol Bol has this ability. He’s the first one to do it. Playing great, I’m happy for Bol Bol. They’re gonna need him in the playoffs.”

Notably, after O’Neal praised Bol at halftime, he didn’t score again in the second half. He finished the half with zero points and one rebound on 0-for-1 shooting in seven minutes. Meanwhile, the Suns (38-28) lost 127-112 to the Celtics (52-14), dropping to seventh in the Western Conference.

However, that likely won’t impact O’Neal’s longtime support of the Suns big man.

Through 28 games, Bol is averaging 5.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, 0.6 blocks and 0.4 3-pointers per game on 62.7% shooting in 11.3 minutes per game.

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