A New War On Christmas: Shaquille O'Neal Vs. The Tree!

The Christmas tree never saw it coming.

While it's hard to miss a 7'1 man coming straight for you, somehow Shaquille O'Neal became a gift under the tree after being shoved into it playfully by Kenny Smith during an episode of TNT's "Inside the NBA" on Tuesday night. The four-time NBA champion flew over the gifts landing on his back in the middle of an oversized, decorated tree with only his feet sticking out.

Laughs were heard all around, even from O'Neal himself, during the entire unfortunate, yet hilarious, situation. So just how did O'Neal end up inside of the tree? While he was racing Smith from the anchor desk to the video board as they often do, Smith decided to play dirty and push the former NBA champ into the unsuspecting tree.

After a few moments of being inside the Christmas tree, O'Neal's other co-hosts, Charles Barkley and Ernie Johnson, got up from the desk where they were laughing it up to help O'Neal dislodge his massive body from the Christmas tree's hold. As he's getting lifted out of the tree we hear him say, "I'm alright." Now the real question becomes, will Smith be alright after O'Neal rises to his feet and shakes tree remnants off himself? "This means war, Kenny," O'Neal says as he jumps up and down laughing.

The insanity didn't end there though. O'Neal decided a sequel needed to happen. "I'll dive in that tree right now," he said to his three co-hosts while sitting back at the desk. A back-and-forth about will he or won't he happened until he got up from his chair and went tree diving as if it was a new sport he wants to perfect.

As O'Neal dives into the same tree he was just thrown into, we hear nothing but laughter and branches breaking off. His co-hosts all collectively said they now need to get a new tree just three weeks before the holiday thanks to the ongoing shenanigans of the evening.

While many fans retweeted the video on Twitter, an Instagram post shared by Bleacher Report and NBA on TNT also had fans reacting to the hilarity of the Tuesday episode.

Actor Michael B. Jordan dropped, "😂😂😂😂" into the comment section of the post. Under Armour commented, "Kenny said YEET." One fan suggested a drug test saying, "Kenny needs to be drug tested man… how can you push a 350 pound man like that." Another follower jokingly said, "tossed is a strong word ☠️" and one other fan wrote, "Damn that tree has to be welded to the ground 😭"