Shaq’s Freestyle Cost Him a Couple of Police Badges

by Marcel Mutoni

Though most people – with the exception of a)those without a sense of humor, and, b)Kobe Bryant – got a good laugh out of Shaquille O’Neal’s “freestyle” from a couple of days ago, one person who wasn’t particularly amused was Joe Arpaio, the Maricopa County Sheriff.

And now, Shaq must return his honorary police badges.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said the Phoenix Suns center’s use of a racially derogatory word and other foul language left him no choice. Arpaio made Shaq a special deputy in January, 2006, and promoted him to colonel of his largely ceremonial posse earlier this month.

“I want his two badges back,” Arpaio told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “Because if any one of my deputies did something like this, they’re fired. I don’t condone this type of racial conduct.”

Personally, I can’t wait until the crime rate in Maricopa County goes up this year, and O’Neal fires back at the Sheriff in some kind of cringe-inducing remix.