By Page Six | Created at 2026-07-23 16:36:35 | Updated at 2026-07-25 03:31:27
1 day ago
Shaquille O’Neal is clapping back at the recent comments Dave Portnoy made about his pal Tom Brady.
“Dave talks a lot,” the legendary NBA star exclusively told Page Six in a new interview, referring to the Barstool Sports founder calling Brady’s post-NFL career “cringey” and “lame.”
“He’s one of those lucky guys who had a lot of success. So, he thinks his point of view is important.”
O’Neal didn’t hold back, telling Page Six, “I’d be glad if somebody punches him in the face. And I hope it’s Tom [Brady].”
“I try to be nice, [but] you can tell him I said that,” he continued, arguing that “idiots” like Portnoy have opinions that “never” matter.
The former Los Angeles Lakers star defended Brady even further, saying, “He knows exactly what he’s doing, and he’s doing it so well.”
As Page Six previously reported, Portnoy eviscerated Brady earlier this week in a scathing “Wake Up Barstool” rant.
He called out Brady for “being lame-ified” with his recent antics, like “chopping it up with Logan Paul” and performing skits at Michael Rubin’s Fanatics Fest in New York City, and argued that he’s ruining his legacy.
Brady, 48, and O’Neal, 54, have been longtime pals. After Netflix’s “Roast of Tom Brady” in 2025, the NBA icon — aka Shaq — had Brady on his podcast.
At the time, he expressed concern that the NFL star was “mad” at him for the jabs. However, Brady reassured him that it was all in good fun, telling the fellow sports legend, “I love being made fun of.”
This isn’t the first time O’Neal has exchanged barbs with Portnoy, however.
In 2023, after the Barstool Sports creator called then-Louisiana State University star Angel Reese “classless” via Twitter, Shaq took a swipe at him, writing, “And so is your mother.”
However, in a 2025 podcast episode, Portnoy said that that when he ran into Shaq at UFC 314, they had a cordial conversation about the stock market.
O’Neal was talking to Page Six while promoting his new true crime series, “Game Day Murders.”
As a self-proclaimed “true crime junkie,” he told us he likes the genre because “everybody has that detective in them.”
“Game Day Murders” premieres Monday, July 27, at 10 p.m. ET on ID and also streams on HBO Max.
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