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Shaquille O’Neal Reveals Why He Abruptly Left TNT’s Inside the NBA

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Dean Koutouratsas | Last updated May 23, 2025 1:14 PM ET

Shaquille O’Neal, one of basketball's most recognizable figures, is an NBA Hall of Famer and the co-host of TNT’s “Inside the NBA.”

During an April 22 episode of the beloved show, the former player got out of his seat during the middle of a live segment and rushed out of the studio to reach the restroom. The moment quickly became popular amongst viewers, who couldn’t help but laugh at the former center running out of the show while his fellow co-hosts joked about it.

Following the moment O’Neal appeared on Thursday’s episode of “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” to discuss what was going on during that moment. The 53-year-old explained that he drank a lot of water that day, and even though it looked like a number two bathroom run, it was a number one.

Shaq had to hustle out of Studio J pic.twitter.com/HcAXHjqUki
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 22, 2025

He added that he’s been drinking olive oil to help clear out his gut, which Kenny Smith joked about during the broadcast. He then admitted that it was a number two bathroom break, not a number one, as he previously said.

“I had to go bad,” O’Neal said as the talk show's audience laughed. “Oh, I had to go so bad.”

Fallon later shared a photo from the April 23 episode of “Inside the NBA,” in which the TNT crew placed a portable bathroom next to O’Neal’s seat, before he began running around his show’s set to imitate O’Neal.

Friday's episode of “Inside the NBA” on TNT starts at 7 p.m. ET, before Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals between the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers begins at 8 p.m. ET.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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