On Monday night Shaquille O’Neal’s new reality series “Shaq Vs.” debuted on ABC. The Arizona Republic is reporting that the idea of the show was stolen from Suns point guard Steve Nash by O’Neal.
(Photo: Getty Images)
According to the reports, shortly after O’Neal was traded to Phoenix in 2008, Nash mentioned the idea about a reality show he was pursuing to his new teammate. In the show, Nash would take on professional athletes in their own sports.
During the 2008-09 season, on the Suns’ team bus, O’Neal announced to teammates that he would be starring in a reality series, which is now called “Shaq Vs.”
“You mean the idea you stole from me?” one Suns representative said he heard Nash say.
Nash reportedly sought out an entertainment lawyer, and he now has an executive producer credit on the show.
Nash hasn’t confirmed the validity to the story.
“We collaborated on parts of the show,” he said. “I support him 100 percent. I thought the first episode was a fantastic episode, and I can’t wait for the next one.”
Let’s not try to turn this into another Shaq vs. Kobe feud, but if O’Neal did steal the idea from Nash, that’s a pretty big low blow, even though O’Neal would pull in bigger ratings (granted they weren’t too good of numbers to begin with)
