Shaq had his co-panelists in stitches when they realized the Hall of Fame center did not know who the coach of the Detroit Pistons was.
Shaq was on Tuesday’s TNT NBA postgame show analyzing the Pistons’ 123-103 win over the Washington Wizards.
Pistons star Cade Cunningham had a strong performance in the contest, finishing with 27 points, 8 rebounds, and 10 assists in the blowout win. While praising Cunningham during his segment, Shaq unintentionally revealed that he was not aware of who currently coaches Detroit. Candace Parker made sure to make fun of Shaq for it.
Shaq: “You said something very interesting about Cade Cunningham. Great player now at this stage and plays at his own pace. … Anybody that can consistently play at their own pace and put up numbers is a great player. I like the way he’s playing. I like what Chauncey [Billups] is doing.
Candace: I can’t let this go. Who’s doing it? You said Chauncey?
Shaq: Chauncey’s the coach right?
Here's Shaq congratulating Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups on turning the Detroit Pistons around. 👍 pic.twitter.com/roe6qnGaKE
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 12, 2025
Chauncey does not, in fact, coach the Pistons. Detroit’s head coach is JB Bickerstaff, who has done an excellent job helping turn the Pistons into a legitimate playoff contender. Detroit’s win over the Wizards gave them 37 for the season, the fourth most in the East through Tuesday’s slate of games. The Pistons had just 14 wins all of last season.
Shaq may have gotten his coaches confused given that Billups is indeed a head coach, albeit for the Portland Trail Blazers. The “Diesel” probably still associates Billups with the Pistons given that Detroit memorably beat Shaq’s Los Angeles Lakers in the 2004 NBA Finals. But it’s still pretty inexcusable for an analyst like Shaq not to know the coach of the team he’s supposed to be sharing his expertise on.
