Halloween may be over, but the candy negotiations are just getting started. Somewhere, someone is quietly separating the good stuff from the treats they’ll generously offer their coworkers.
Shaquille O’Neal has entered that conversation with the appropriate level of basketball energy.
Shaq joined Malika Andrews and Chiney Ogwumike for a Halloween-candy edition of “Start, Bench, Cut” on NBA Today. The familiar ranking game gave the panel a seasonal assignment: apply a sports-debate format to the contents of a candy bowl.
Finally, a roster discussion the whole household can participate in.
The choices featured Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, KitKat, and Sour Patch Kids, according to NBA on ESPN’s social post promoting the segment. That’s a lineup with enough variety to produce a perfectly respectable disagreement before anyone even opens a wrapper.
Chocolate and peanut butter have their supporters. A crispy wafer brings a different skill set. Sour candy arrives prepared to make an immediate impression.
We’re withholding our official ballot until someone explains whether sharing is mandatory.
The setting added to the fun. NBA Today embraced Halloween with costumes, including Andrews dressed as Spike Lee and Ogwumike appearing as Elphaba. Put Shaq into that atmosphere, give everyone a candy question, and you have a pleasantly unusual day at the basketball desk.
It’s the kind of assignment that makes you reconsider your own office’s seasonal festivities. A bowl of miniature chocolates beside the printer suddenly seems a little underfunded.
For Shaq, sweets are familiar territory beyond a television taste debate. His Shaq-A-Licious candy collaboration with Hershey includes gummies shaped like his face, along with basketball-inspired SLAMS featuring gummy balls and a sour hoop.
Having your own candy certainly adds an interesting wrinkle to a conversation about snack preferences. Most of us bring opinions. Shaq can bring a product line.
Still, the appeal of this segment is how easy it is to join in. You don’t need to study a depth chart or remember which team signed somebody over the summer. You just need a favorite candy and the willingness to defend it with slightly more conviction than necessary.
And people do have conviction about candy.
Ask someone to rank three treats, and suddenly they’re explaining texture, chocolate distribution, and the importance of a dependable wrapper. Nobody requested a scouting report, but here we are.
That’s what makes borrowing the basketball format so entertaining. “Start, Bench, Cut” turns an everyday preference into a tiny competition, complete with the possibility that someone you otherwise respect will make a choice you find deeply questionable.
Friendships have survived worse. Probably.
Shaq’s presence fits the mood nicely. A candy debate leaves plenty of room for the playful side fans enjoy, without requiring a grand occasion or an elaborate setup.
Sometimes the subject really can be that simple: a few sweets, a familiar game, and people having fun with their answers.
As November begins, there’s still time to conduct your own household draft. Just remember that the person organizing the candy bowl may have already awarded themselves the first pick.
We’ll leave the final rankings to you.
But we appreciate seeing the Big Diesel help give Halloween leftovers their moment at the sports desk. The season changes, the basketball continues, and apparently the snack analysis never takes a day off.