Shaquille O'Neal Laughs Off Victor Wembanyama's Incredible Opening Night Show

The fellas have a new home on ESPN but the same ol' chemistry.

Shaquille O'Neal downplays Victor Wembanyama's incredible opening-night performance / NBA on ESPN on X

Victor Wembanyama puts on one of the more unique shows in all of sports when he takes the court and he wasted no time serving notice to the rest of the NBA with a spectacular performance to start his third campaign. The Spurs' big man, who just kept growing in the offseason despite being the tallest player in the sport, posted 40 points in a dominant victory over the Mavericks. With Wemby, it's not so much what type of numbers show up on the stat sheet as much as how it looks out on the court. And make no mistake, all existing ceilings need to be raised because—and it's not hyperbole—we've never seen anything like this.

But what's really important about the dazzling opening-night display is how it could be leveraged for some Shoving Buddies-like comedy on Inside the NBA's ESPN debut. Believe it or not, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith had no trouble finding a punchline and a punching bag.

"Me and Kenny just having a debate," Barkley said. "Forty or 45, Wemby against Shaq."

"We also said if you had a draft of all the greatest big men all-time ..." Smith chimed in.

Barkley then poked again, suggesting that his colleague O'Neal would slide down the list.

Shaq was unimpressed by Wemby after his 40-point performance against the Mavs 👀

"You know what I'm known for eating? French fries and French toast." 😂 pic.twitter.com/8QcoEmwBP6

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 23, 2025

Believe it not, Shaq disagreed.

"You know what's crazy about you all?" he said. "I wasn't known for defense ... I'm not know for defense but you know what I'm known for eating? French fries and French toast."

It's a great line as expected, but those two items are among the few things the Hall of Fame bigisn't known for endorsing.

Yet.

It's a heady play to open up the possibility for more promotion.

Sadly, there are logistical issues involved in having prime O'Neal play defense against Wembanyama, as well as staging a draft of the best centers to ever play the game. Like, one could do it but it wouldn't carry much weight because of the same time-space continuum obstacles presented in the first scenario.

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