Shaq wrongly reports player has died as Inside The NBA forced to issue public apology

NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal made a massive error live on air as he reported that a player had died, when he was actually alive and well.

Since retiring from professional basketball back in 2011, O'Neal has become perhaps even more popular as a pundit and television personality.

However, as can sometimes happen as a pundit, the Los Angeles Lakers legend made a major blunder while live on air, claiming that a former NBA star had died.

And now, TNT Sports show Inside the NBA have been forced to make an official apology for O'Neal's comments.

During TNT's postgame coverage of Monday's playoff match between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat, the panel began discussing Cavaliers' guard Ty Jerome's 28-point performance off the bench.

The impressive feat put Jerome among some elite players who scored in a playoff debut off the bench, naming the likes of Ben Gordon, Malik Monk, and Billy Ray Bates.

But as the pundits discussed Bates debut in 1980, which saw him score an incredible 29 points, former power forward Charles Barkleyasked: “I wonder if he's still alive. This is a fair question.”

Co-host Ernie Johnson quickly replied: "Not unless you know the answer, you do not need to ask a question like that.”

But O'Neal was sure of his answer, as he incorrectly claimed that Bates had passed away, before joking: “You're gonna get us fired, Chuck."

However, at the age of 68, Bates is alive and well, meaning that the following night, Johnson had to aplogise on behalf of TNT during their coverage of night 2 of the playoffs.

He said: “We would like to issue a correction and an apology for something that happened last night on 'Inside the NBA.

"We were talking about Billy Ray Bates… we passed on some bad information that Billy Ray Bates had passed away. While it was inadvertent, it was also inaccurate and insensitive and inexcusable.

"In short, we screwed up. And we apologise to Billy Ray Bates and his family.”