The early 2000s kickstarted the three-peat era of the Los Angeles Lakers, which also helped the players reach the pinnacle of their stardom. This became evident when Shaquille O’Neal received the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to cameo in Larry David’s ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’. More than two decades later, ‘The Big Aristotle’ revisited the iconic footage from his appearance, reminiscing about the golden days.
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A recent Instagram post from Sports on Max captured Shaq’s 2001 cameo in the sitcom series’ eighth episode of Season 2. During this edition, David sat courtside while attending a Lakers home game at the Staples Center. He stretched his legs to relax before accidentally tripping O’Neal because of it. In the process, the NBA star hurt his right knee, groaning in pain while lying on the floor.
“What did you do?” a fan repeatedly asked David while he continually apologized for his actions. With the entire crowd on their feet upon witnessing the scenario, the Team Doctor arrived at the scene for the rescue. Despite his best efforts, O’Neal’s condition was far from improving, eventually leading to him being taken out of the game.
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The revisit of this iconic instance from the series brought back the cherishable memories of the 4x champion. Consequently, the New Jersey-born shared the clip from his Instagram story while remembering the good old days.
Shaq shared his Curb Your Enthusiasm cameo on his IG story pic.twitter.com/5AqrkQYmrD
— What are NBA Celebs Upto? (@NBACelebsUpdate) May 4, 2024
Over the years, this scene became renowned, with Shaq’s hilarious performance being a major reason behind it. It aided in him shredding off the tag of ‘wannabe actor’ as O’Neal had seemingly put all this energy into executing this act. Looking back, it marked a turning point for the 7ft 1″ star’s career in the entertainment industry, providing completion to his plan.
Shaquille O’Neal plotted the entire sequence of events
During a 2021 interview with Showbiz CheatSheet, O’Neal revealed the intricate details of the scene. He allegedly thought of the entire sequence on the set, while David promptly agreed with his suggestion. Reflecting on the moment, Shaq mentioned, “I told him, Larry put your foot there and I’ll do the rest…I always wanted to be a stuntman when I was little so I know how to fall”.
However, the 2000 MVP had reasons to come up with such an idea. Upon arriving on the sets, the Lakers star understood that the actors were relying on improvisation to execute the scenes. Looking back, he remembered, “They were like, ‘Shaq just be yourself.’ So we came up with that. And we still talk about it to this day”.
This captured the acumen of the big man as a born entertainer. On top of this, the freedom of self-expression helped O’Neal thrive as an actor in those circumstances. A mixture of these two continues to fuel his performances in various avenues of life to this day, shedding light on his impeccable ability to instantaneously gather the attention of the crowd.
