If you ever wondered how good Shaquille O’Neal is at math, this video should clear a few things up. Or baffle you to no end, depending on how you look at it.
At one point on Inside the NBA, Kenny Smith expressed concern over getting a certain car with either a huge gas tank, poor gas mileage or both. He said he didn’t want to spend $80 whenever he needed to fill the tank.
Enter Shaq, with some seriously questionable math and a theory for how Smith could save himself money.
Here’s just how this conversation begins:
Shaq: When it gets to half, then you put $20. You bring it back to full.
Smith: But I would have to stop often and still spend $80.
Shaq: No you wouldn’t, no you wouldn’t.
Smith: Why?
Shaq: You’re complaining about when it gets to zero, you’ll spend $80. Right? When it gets to half, you put $20. Then when it gets back to half, you put $20…
Smith: Yeah but I’ll keep stopping and putting $20 in, and it’ll equal $80 as the same amount of gas. I’m driving the same amount of gas.
Shaq: Kenny, Kenny, Kenny, Kenny. The average human stops once a week for gas, right? Which you, you only work here twice so you’d probably only have to stop maybe once every two weeks.
(Charles Barkley cracking up in the background.)
Ernie Johnson: This is bordering on what’s closer, the West Coast or the moon? This is bordering on that.
From there, this conversation takes a ridiculous turn with Shaq refuting Smith’s logic about gas and money and somehow explaining why half of an $80 gas tank equals $20 instead of $40. But at some point, Shaq actually starts making sense, kind of, and it sounds like he’s arguing for always keeping the tank three-quarters filled.
This is maddening to try and understand but hilarious nonetheless. And Smith astutely summed up the ridiculousness with one of the most famous comedy quotes: “Who’s on first?” Because that’s exactly what this conversation sounds like.
