NBA legend and TNT commentator Shaquille O’Neal first had to ask who the Atlanta Hawks were even playing. Told that the Charlotte Hornets were the Hawks opponent in the NBA Play-in tournament, Shaq didn’t blink.
O’Neal’s confidence in Trae Young and the Hawks is apparently total, no matter who they play. So total that Shaq vowed he’d stick his hand in a real Hornets nest on the show if the Hawks failed to dispatch Charlotte.
(It almost seemed as if O’Neal could have been informed the Hawks were playing the ’96 Bulls — featuring Hornets owner Michael Jordan — and he wouldn’t have blinked.)
Well, Trae Young and the Hawks saved Shaq a world of pain by taking care of the buzzy business in Atlanta. They obliterated the Hornets, sending Jordan’s team home with a bruising 132-103 defeat.
Trae Young made only 8 of his 24 shots, but scored 24 points with 11 assists and Atlanta — who Shaq calls “my Hawks” — never seemed threatened.
