Shaquille O’Neal Abruptly Leaves Live On-Air Segment to Go the Bathroom as His Co-Hosts Hilariously Roast Him

“He’s been drinking olive oil to clean his gut, he’s cleaning his gut all right,” Kenny Smith said as O’Neal’s ‘Inside the NBA’ co-hosts poked fun at his swift exit

Shaquille O’Neal exiting the ‘Inside the NBA’ studio. Photo: 

NBA on TNT/X

Shaquille O’Neal answered mother nature’s call — even though he was in the middle of live TV!

The 53-year-old basketball legend — who hosts Inside the NBA on TNT — shocked his fellow co-hosts when he got up in the middle of a live on air taping and began rushing out of the studio in order to use the bathroom.

The moment was shared on X by NBA on TNT, which captioned the video, “Shaq had to hustle out of Studio J 🤣😅.”

In the short clip, O’Neal, in a light blue suit jacket and gray slacks, could be seen getting up as his Inside the NBA co-host Kenny Smith asked him, “You alright, big fella?” O’Neal said in respo, “Go ahead, keep talking gents.”

This prompted the co-host to remind him, “Yeah, we’re on TV,” to which the NBA star responded, “I know what we’re doing, go ahead,” as he continued to run out of the studio.

“It’s that olive oil [you’ve] been drinking,” Smith, 60, teased, while his other co-host Charles Barkley poked fun at the fact that he might be in the bathroom a while and added, “Hey, take some matches with you.”

The co-hosts then proceeded to laugh at the situation after O’Neal left the room. “Listen, he couldn’t hold it. After 40, you can’t hold it no more,” Smith joked. Ernie Johnson teased, “That was a first … that wasn’t something planned, was it?,” to which the other hosts agreed that it “was not planned.”

“He’s been drinking olive oil to clean his gut, he’s cleaning his gut all right,” Smith added laughing.

“I didn’t like his gait as he left, that was not a typical walk right there,” Johnson noted, with Smith adding, “Please turn his mic off!”

Later on in the segment, they made light of the situation by doing a play-by-play — like they would in game replays — showing the sports analyst in slow-motion getting up out of his seat while they voiced-over what was happening.

“Here he is… [I’ve] seen that face before … ‘I can feel it,’” they joked of what he was thinking at that moment. “There was the gait,” Johnson joked as he walked out the studio door.

(L-R) Shaquille O’Neal, Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley.Michael Loccisano/Getty

“That was my number one, drinking that water,” O’Neal shared as he returned to his seat before apologizing, saying, “Sorry about that, America.” He also teased that he had to go because Barkley, 62, was “talking so damn much” that it prevented them from going to a commercial break. “I’m sitting him here like shut the hell up and hurry up,” he added.

The incident comes ahead of Inside the NBA’s move from TNT to ESPN ahead of the 2025-26 season. The show, which according to ESPN has won 21 sports Emmy Awards, is set to appear on ESPN and ABC for coverage on events like the NBA finals, the sports network announced in November 2024.

ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in a statement at the time: “The addition of Inside the NBA further solidifies ESPN as the preeminent destination for sports fans.”