Shaquille O’Neal has a bone to pick with the Chiefs.
The Super Bowl-winning franchise drew the ire of the NBA icon Wednesday when he appeared on Jason and Travis Kelce’s “New Heights” podcast, and questioned the Chiefs’ plan in utilizing their star тιԍнт end against the Eagles in February’s lopsided 44-20 championship loss.
“I have a question, how come they didn’t use you a lot in the Super Bowl?” Shaq asked Travis. “I know you’re f–king pissed. I don’t want to get you in trouble.”
Kelce, who was all but invisible in the blowout Super Bowl 2025 defeat with four catches for 39 yards, replied, “Nah, man, you already know we were trying to use all the pieces, man.”
O’Neal, a four-time NBA champion, suggested the Chiefs should have looked to the pieces that helped win them their recent тιтles, three of which came with Kelce, 35, on the roster.
“I need the pieces that helped us win the first f–king Super Bowl, don’t be trying to do the new s–t,” he said. “I don’t wanna get you in trouble, but I wasn’t happy about that.”
Kelce quipped the Eagles’ defense was “doing a pretty good job of bracketing me and s–t like that,” but O’Neal wasn’t having it.
“I’ll tell you what, you don’t have to talk, but I’m gonna talk for you. Coach: he’s f–king 6-foot-8. Throw him the goddamn ball. Single coverage, double coverage, at the goal line. Alley-oop, coach, that’s the play you call,” he said.
Kelce, who actually stands at 6-5, has been putting in the work this offseason as he looks to move on from a lackluster 12th year, in which he posted a career-low of 823 receiving yards.
The 10-time Pro Bowler — who put retirement rumors to bed in February — has been training away in Florida and dropped a reported 25 pounds.
The offseason hasn’t been all work and no play, however, as the three-time Super Bowl champ has been enjoying downtime with girlfriend Taylor Swift.
The 35-year-old pop superstar, who bought back her masters last week in a music stunner, was referenced on Wednesday’s episode by O’Neal, a noted Swiftie.
“Your brother, [Jason Kelce], did something nobody else in the world could do. He walked me right over,” O’Neal said of his Super Bowl 2024 interaction with Swift. “I got to shake her hand.”
Swift celebrated Kelce’s Super Bowl triumph over the 49ers in February 2024 with a kiss on the field at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
They’ve been dating since 2023.
