‘Thirsty Rihanna fan Shaquille O’Neal was Once Ready To ‘Legally Change’ His Name For Popstar

Adit Pujari | 17/02/2023
‘Thirsty Rihanna fan Shaquille O’Neal was Once Ready To 'Legally Change' His Name For Popstar

Shaquille O’Neal, since his college days, has been a fan of female celebrities. An ardent Halle Berry admirer, the 7ft legend has, on several occasions, publicly voiced his admiration for her. In fact, when in college, Shaq even wrote a letter to her. But in the recent past, another female celebrity has risen through the ranks of O’Neal’s crushes.

The ‘Work’ singer, Rihanna, has converted Shaquille O’Neal into a fanboy in the last few years. In fact, his attraction for her surpasses the normal tendencies such crushes evoke in someone. Shaq, unlike your usual fan, was once even ready to change his name for the acclaimed musician.

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Shaquille O’Neal was ready to change his name for Rihanna

While on an episode of Big Podcast with Nischelle Turner and Spice Adams, Shaquille O’Neal revealed the extent of his fondness for RiRi. The conversation began when Adams enquired if O’Neal would ever consider changing his last name. In response, O’Neal revealed he would go to the extent of changing his name for only three people in the entire world.

At first, he suggested that his new name would be James Hanna. This was clearly a signature Shaq take on Rihanna. But Nischelle reminded O’Neal that Rihanna’s real name is Robyn Fenty. So, Shaq course corrected and claimed he would change his name to Frank Fenty.

“I don’t want to name these people because they are married or having babies. Only if it was three certain people. I will change my name to James Hanna. I’ll let you figure out who that is.” Shaq continued after Nischelle’s correction, “So my name will be Frank Fenty”

The other two women on Shaq’s list were Charlize Theron and, without any surprise, Halle Berry. For Berry, Shaquille suggested changing his name to Cornelius Berry, while he suggested Thomas Theron in Charlize Theron’s case.

Shaq publicly thirsted for Rihanna on Shareef O’Neal’s Instagram

This wasn’t the first time, and likely not the last, Shaquille O’Neal has thirsted for Rihanna publicly. Earlier, Shareef O’Neal had posted a picture on Instagram with a caption that read ‘Waiting for Rihanna like…’

Fascinatingly, Shaquille O’Neal immediately shut down his son. The Lakers legend responded by telling Shareef that Rihanna did not want him. Shaq then claimed Rihanna actually wanted the NBA legend because he is ‘s*xier.’ Well, the credibility of Shaq’s argument is up for debate but one thing is certain, O’Neal may just be the biggest RiRi fan.

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Post Edited By: Adit Pujari
Rihanna Shaquille O'Neal

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Adit Pujari

Adit Pujari is an NBA Journalist and Strategist at The SportsRush. He formerly worked as a debate and writing trainer. An avid fan of Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers, Adit began following the league in 2007. With the Lakers and Boston Celtics rivalry ripe, he found himself hooked to the sport immediately. After 15 years of religiously following the league, he decided to use his knowledge base as a sports writer in 2021. Since then, he has worked as an NBA writer, led a team of MLB writers, and has now joined The SportsRush. In his spare time, Adit loves playing pickup games and exploring hidden Himalayan trails.

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