TNT NBA analyst Shaquille O’Neal is in a bit of hot water for an incident at Turner Sports’ Atlanta studios last year.
According to Atlanta ABC affiliate WSB TV, O’Neal is under investigation by the Atlanta Police Department after an incident last May in which he tackled a Turner employee. The employee, Robert Williams, claims that he suffered serious injuries to his back due to the incident.
O’Neal’s lawyer said in a statement to WSB that the incident “was nothing more than horseplay” and no injuries were intended. O’Neal is of course no stranger to horseplay, having engaged in numerous physical gags on Inside the NBA. Through his own lawyer, Williams “emphatically” denied “that the permanent injuries he received were not the result of participation in any form of ‘horseplay.'” The incident was instead a “physical attack.”
According to the gossip website TMZ.com, Williams did not file a police report in the incident until July 2. The APD is expected to send the results of its investigation to the District Attorney’s office “sometime in the near future” (WSB, 3/24).
(Tue. news from WSB TV via Slam Online)
