The Nuggets were a topic of discussion on ESPN's Inside the NBA on Thursday night, ahead of Denver's season opening clash with the Warriors. While previewing the game, it became clear that Shaquille O'Neal didn't fully refresh himself with the Nuggets’ offseason moves.

When a graphic displaying the Nuggets' offseason additions was put on the screen, O'Neal offered some brief analysis of each player. The last name on the list was Denver's new head coach, David Adelman, who O'Neal seemingly thought was a newly-acquired player.

O'Neal said that he was "not familiar" with Adelman, which prompted Kenny Smith to laugh and respond, "He's a coach, man," at O'Neal.

Adelman was named the Nuggets' interim coach after the team unexpectedly fired Mike Malone late into the 2024-25 season. Adelman was then named the full-time head coach this offseason, though it seems Shaq never quite got that memo.

"I don't know who that is," Shaq said, while Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley and Smith laughed.

"Listen, let me tell you something about me. There's 27 teams, I'm not memorizing 27 coaches," Shaq retorted, before being reminded there are, in fact, 30 NBA teams.

Adelman is the son of former longtime NBA coach Rick Adelman, who spent 23 seasons coaching in the league for the Trail Blazers, Warriors, Kings, Rockets and Timberwolves. Despite his family's history in the NBA, O'Neal seemingly had no idea who David was, and he was rightfully roasted for it by his colleagues.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘Inside the NBA' Crew Roasted Shaq for Not Knowing Nuggets Coach David Adelman.

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