Getty Image / Daniel Boczarski
So, remember back in 2018 when Adam “Pacman” Jones got into that fight at the airport? Where he knocked the employee out.
Well, several years later, Shaq reveals the true reason why the altercation started in the first place.
As a refresher, here is the brawl being discussed that was shared by TMZ. Warning, there is profanity in the clip.
Airport employee picks fight with Pacman Jones, causes Pacman to drop his Popeyes, tries to attack Pacman, gets KO'd, gets arrested by police for attempting to assult Pacman, and then gets fired. And we all get to watch for free! pic.twitter.com/QrlvNeMz4H
— Ben Booth (@TheBenBoothShow) July 11, 2018
At the time, it was unclear why it happened. Pacman Jones didn’t provide many details whenever he was asked about it in interviews either.
Well, the reason the fight broke out might come as a shock. During an interview on the Pat McAfee Show, Shaq reveals the entire altercation happened because Pacman was sticking up for him.
That’s right. Jones apparently had O’Neal’s back when that employee was talking trash to him before the video surfaced.
"I can tell this story now.. @REALPACMAN24 was really sticking up for me when he had that altercation at the airport" ~ @SHAQ#PMSLive pic.twitter.com/jXe9iH3xDt
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) March 23, 2023
And here we were thinking that random airport employee just hated Pacman Jones or something. Nope. Instead, Jones didn’t like what he said about Shaq and it went haywire from there.
It was a wild incident at the time and with more context, it might be an even crazier scenario than we ever imagined.