$120M actress is the only woman who can make 7ft 1’ Shaquille O’Neal stutter

Akash Murty | 13/08/2022
$120M actress is the only woman who can make 7ft 1’ Shaquille O’Neal stutter

Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal had a major crush on Halle Berry, the kind which makes a super confident man like him go out of words.

Shaquille O’Neal alongside Charles Barkley is two of the most flagrant analysts in the business. You would never see them think twice while ripping apart some good basketball players unless their names are too hard to pronounce.

For more than a decade, since his retirement in 2011, Shaq has been one of the most straightforward personalities in the NBA media who has never found it difficult to address players even when he gets the chance to get face to face with them.

Much like his playing days, the 7-foot-1 giant has still maintained his dominant personality over the years. But it seems even The Diesel gets nervous when it comes to ladies.

And we are talking about the time when he was in the prime of his career and nobody in the NBA was able to stop him even on most of his worst and their best days.

Also read: Multi-Millionaire Charles Barkley called TNT producer a p***y on-air alongside Reggie Miller

 

Halle Berry made Shaquille O’Neal eat his words back in the day

When everyone in the league full of giants thought twice about standing in front of the 300-340 pounds of muscle and sheer destruction, O’Neal stuttered in front of X-Men actress when she came in to watch a Lakers game back in the day.

It’s not like O’Neal felt that whenever some gorgeous celeb was sitting at the courtside in LA to watch the best team of the start of the new century putting on a show. It was particularly Berry who made him remember his younger stuttering self. He again talked about it on The Big Podcast with Shaq last year.

“Like the first time I saw Halle Berry, and my stuttering kicked in… Oh boy …” Shaq remembered the time when he was in an elevator with Berry and was too nervous. “… and you know, every man has a Halle Berry crush. And she’s there by herself and she looks at me, she’s smiling so I’m like… (stutters)… Ding! you hear it …(stutters)… Ding! I can’t even talk and then she gets out… uh, Hey Halle.”

Interesting enough it was Kobe Bryant who made the Catwoman come watch a Lakers game now and again. So, Bryant didn’t just one up O’Neal on championships he also had stolen the heart of Berry on whom the big man and half of America had a major crush.

Also read: 6’6″ Kobe Bryant revealed the step he had to take to finally become a champion, and a Lakers legend

Did that also, unknowingly, play a role in Shaq’s later fallout with the Black Mamba? We would never know the answer to that.

 

 

Post Edited By: Akash Murty
Halle Berry Kobe Byrant LA Lakers Shaquille O'Neal

About the author

Akash Murty

An Electrical and Electronics Engineer by degree, Akash Murty is an NBA Editor at The SportsRush. Previously a Software Engineer, Murty couldn’t keep himself away from sports, and his knack for writing and putting his opinion forward brought him to the TSR. A big Soccer enthusiast, his interest in basketball developed late, as he got access to a hoop for the first time at 17. Following this, he started watching basketball at the 2012 Olympics, which transitioned to NBA, and he became a fan of the game as he watched LeBron James dominate the league. Him being an avid learner of the game and ritually following the league for around a decade, he now writes articles ranging from throwbacks, and live game reports, to gossip. LA Lakers are his favourite basketball team, while Chelsea has his heart in football. He also likes travelling, reading fiction, and sometimes cooking.

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