10:30 AM PT -- It happened -- Shaquille O'Neal just took his beef with Shannon Sharpe to the mic ... dropping a diss track amid their internet feud.

Forget Drake and Kendrick Lamar, there's a new beef taking over -- Shaquille O'Neal vs. Shannon Sharpe ... with the NBA legend sending shots at the NFL Hall of Famer for claiming he's "jealous" of Nikola Jokic.

The drama started after the "Inside the NBA" crew presented the league's Most Valuable Player award to Joker during Wednesday’s show ... when during their interview, Shaq told the Nuggets superstar he's the best player in the league -- but felt Shai Gilgeous-Alexander deserved the award this season instead.

Sharpe then went on his "Nightcap" podcast to react to Shaq's comments with Chad Johnson and Gilbert Arenas ... suggesting O'Neal is envious of Jokic's accolades.

"Shaq should have five MVP's," Sharpe said. "He sees a guy like Nikola Jokic that's not as dominant as him and gets three in four years. When you historically great, they talk about you as a great basketball player, the GOAT, and Shaq is never brought up."

"I think a part of him is envious of that ... it's hard for me to put someone in the GOAT conversation with one MVP," he added. "If Shaq would of had my work ethic, he would have had 40,000 points."

Shaq took Sharpe's words personally ... firing back on Instagram and accusing him of click-baiting, as he was only sticking up for SGA.

Things got even more personal ... as Shaq said Shannon is actually jealous of HIM.

"Don't forget I know what you did to get [where] you at," he said. "Me jealous, sounds like you jealous. I [know] you tryna stay relevant by gossiping on your podcast ... 4 rings three finals MVP top 50 and top 75. Google me. And, to [be] quite frank all this new success you got, you still under me," he added.

The Big Aristotle didn't stop there -- he said he's got more money and is just simply better all around.

Sharpe didn't take it sitting down ... replying, "He can take all the shots. Yeah you got more money, yeah you're more famous than me, yeah you're more well-known, you're gonna have more money than I ever have ... but nobody will ever say that I was lazy or I cheated myself."

There is for sure something boiling between the two sports greats ... perhaps Shaq hops in the booth and records a diss track soon?