Shaquille O’Neal has been a larger-than-life figure in the NBA ever since he came into the league in the 90s. Shaq was an absolute beast on the court, dominating opposing big men on both ends of the court, and stopping him would usually take at least 2 to 3 players in his prime. And as serious a problem as Shaq was on the court, one of the things that made him so loved was that he was just as funny and goofy off of it.
The big man was known for pranking his teammates in several ways, and sometimes it was as simple as him walking up to someone and saying something messed up. In a recent story, Grant Hill spoke about a prank O’Neal pulled on Jason Richardson when all of them were on the Suns towards the end of Shaq’s career.
(starts at 1:11:28 minutes):
“Imma out Shaq right here, I remember one time, this is so bad, man. I remember one time man, Shaq, I can’t repeat this, man… Man, we in the showers after practice and he goes to J Rich, ‘J Rich, you got a fat a**, man’. And so I’m like, ‘How you come back, what does J Rich do man?’ You know what I’m saying? Shaq was funny, he was nasty, he was crazy. “
Considering that O’Neal was an incredibly large human being on top of being one of the greatest to ever do it, it was also really difficult for other players that he pranked to get back at him, so it’s easy to sympathize with Jason Richardson in this scenario.
Having characters like that who are always ready to have some fun is excellent for team morale, and it goes to explain why so many people that played with him had so much love for O’Neal. His hilarity, while tempered down, is still visible on Inside the NBA and Shaq will always be remembered as one of the most colorful personalities the league has ever seen.
