Shaquille O’Neal might be one of the strongest players in NBA history, but he was always a massive jokester off the court. Matt Barnes told a story to Paul George about how Shaq pranked former Suns’ teammate Lou Amundson by putting his mouthpiece in his pants and going through a whole shootaround.
“He used to f**k with this dude called Lou Amundson. They had a back-and-forth thing. One time, Shaq during shootaround, took Lou’s mouthpiece and put it in his shorts underneath his n*ts. Everyone knew but Lou. Shaq goes through a whole shootaround with Lou’s mouthpiece under his n*tsack and then puts it back in his locker. Before the game, the coach is talking… Bro, he put that sh*t in his mouth and everyone died. Laid out, on the ground.”
(Starts at 56:04)
That’s a crazy stunt to pull, but if there’s anyone who could get away with it without retaliation, it’s Shaq, and he knows it himself. Even if O’Neal was at the tail-end of his career in 2008 on the Suns, he was still an imposing figure on the court and even made another All-Star team.
Amundson played two seasons with the Suns before becoming a career role-player, constantly playing for 10 teams in 10 career seasons before his NBA career ended with the 2015-16 New York Knicks. Amundson averaged 3.7 points and 3.6 rebounds.
That 2008-09 Suns team with Shaq and Steve Nash had expectations on them purely because of the name-value of the players, but it didn’t lead to success. The Suns didn’t make the playoffs that season and would fall into NBA irrelevancy after Shaq and Nash departed in forthcoming seasons.
Shaquille O’Neal Recently Called Out The Clippers
Shaquille O’Neal saw his entire career rush him by, as his body couldn’t keep pace with his age. He lost mobility as he grew older and eventually had to retire while playing for the Celtics. He understands the game of basketball at a high level and recently criticized the veteran-led group of the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Clippers have a lot of aging superstars on their roster and need to figure out their best fit, though Shaq has little patience for that. He called the Clippers out after their recent struggles.
“This ain’t High School of AAU where you gotta call plays. He has the ball most of the time. Harden gotta get himself going. James Harden wanna win a championship; he gotta be a vital part of that [Clippers] offense. He has to be consistent. Him — no disrespect — and [Paul George] sometimes they disappear in the playoffs. If they can be consistent, then all the high hopes people have for the Clippers, maybe the Clippers can get it done. That’s why I’m not high on them.”
O’Neal might keep it jovial with his teammates but can’t do it when there aren’t cameras on him. The prank he pulled on Amundson was quite gross, but given how a lot of people still find this funny, it’s best to leave it up to subjective interpretation.
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