More on Shaq-TNT: No cartoon versions of 'Kazaam' on the horizon

The countdown begins to Shaquille O'Neal giving Kobe Bryant a live, studio critique. Should an NBA season develop anytime soon.

The thing is, Shaq quotes always look better on paper than they do coming out of his mouth. Maybe they're just easier to understand.

While we were on a conference call with him and Turner Sports president David Levy earlier this morning, it wasn't until we saw a transcript of the thing a few hours ago that we could decipher some of what he was mumbling about in this multi-year, multi-platform deal that the former Lakers star did with TNT.

Yep, he'll be there on the NBA studio show, trading incoherency with Charles Barkley and forcing Ernie Johnson and Kenny Smith to translate.

That'll make for great closed-captioning TV.

One of the things we did catch was that while O'Neal may have a development deal with Turner's entertainment and animation division, it won't involve creating a "Kazaam" cartoon series. Probably.

"Kazaam is back in the bottle and gone forever," he said.

Levy said that it was actually Barkley who was "one of the biggest proponent of bringing Shaquille on board. We have always had four people sitting up there in any way shape or form. I think there will be enough to go around for everybody and certainly Shaquille's insight will only enhance the overall show. We are always looking for ways to improve the show and we believe bringing Shaquille on will do that."

More questions may have gone unanswered than answered: What will happen to Chris Weber on the TNT set? Will Shaq be part of the TNT/CBS college basketball coverage? Will he go out to do games from time to time?

Shaq wouldn't expand much on why he picked TNT over ESPN or any other medium, just saying that ESPN was "very tempting" and that Turner and TNT "was just the best fit for me. ... It was my favorite show. ... it was a deal I couldn't resist. ... I didn't want to make it a 'this and that'-type of war."

He won't have trouble fitting in with the group because, as he says, "I've always been a team player. I know when to fit in or sit back and relax. I'm just honored that they invited me and chose me. I'm just going to make it more fun than it already is."

He said his philosophy about giving his opinions: "Some people give unfair criticism. Some people give fair criticism. I have the ability and backing to give fair criticism. The only time I have a problem with people giving criticism is when they haven't walked that walk. I have walked many walks in my 19-year career. I think any criticism I give should be fair. ... I'm just going to try to be charismatic, funny, and very professional. My favorite analytical guy is Bryant Gumbel. I love him. He's so smooth and he's intelligent. Hopefully, I can get to that level one day."

Just keep it real, sport.