Sheriff to Shaq: Gimme back that badge, bro

Not everyone was amused by Shaquille O'Neal's raunchy rap song dedicated to his former teammate Kobe Bryant.

Shaq will lose his special deputy's badge (Oh NO!) in Maricopa County because of the language he used in the video. Click here to see it. But consider yourself warned against racial slurs and bad language.

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 but to yank his badge back. Arpaio made Shaq a special deputy in 2006 and promoted him to colonel of his largely ceremonial posse later that year.

"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."

Shaq was seen in a video posted on TMZ.com rapping that "Kobe couldn't do without me." O'Neal skewers the Lakers' star, with whom he won three straight NBA titles from 2000-2002, for not being able to win a championship without him.

In the song, he also blamed Kobe for his divorce, saying "Kobe ratted me out," presumably referencing Kobe's comments made during his infamous 2003 rape case, when he told Colorado police that he "should have done what Shaq does ... Shaq would pay his women not to say anything."

Ouch. Instant enemies.

What do you think of the Shaq attack? Should he lose his badge? Do you think he really cares?

Photos: Shaquille O'Neal at the Muhammad Ali Celebrity Fight Night XIV on April 5, 2008.
WireImage

The Dish Rag by Elizabeth Snead

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