“Wang Zu, or Whatever Your Name is!”: When Shaquille O’Neal Got Downright Racist Just to Get Into Yao Ming’s Head

Shaquille O’Neal may be one of the nicest people on the planet now, but the man can be a bully when the occasion calls for it. And when we’re talking about prime NBA Shaq, the moment almost always seemed to call for it. Especially when it pertained to someone he would play against.

Due to this trait of his, the man became an enemy to most big men around the NBA. And given his dominance, he always came out on top. There never was even a shadow of a doubt he would win… except on a single occasion.

A certain Chinese player named Yao Ming entered the NBA in 2002. And ahead of their first-ever match, Shaquille O’Neal had some racy things to say on the matter.

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Shaquille O’Neal got racist in trying to get into Yao Ming’s head during his appearance on national television

Shaquille O’Neal has been known to be a bit of a comedian just about all his life. But of course, you can’t be purely comical when trying to challenge someone.

So, what did the Big Diesel do instead? Well, take a look at the YouTube clip below.

Suffice it to say, his comments aged like milk kept out in the heat for too long, considering how less ignorant the world is today.

But beyond that, as it turned out, this matchup wasn’t about to be as much of a cinch as Shaq expected.

Actually, it turned out to be far from that.

 

How did a rookie Yao Ming do against Shaquille O’Neal?

Shaquille O’Neal was pretty confident that he could beat a rookie. Unfortunately for him, Yao Ming wasn’t just any rookie.

Take a look at the YouTube clip below to see how the Rockets man made Shaq respect him.

At the end of the night, Ming had an impressive 10 points, 10 rebounds 3 assists, along with a whopping 6 blocks.

But of course, Shaquille O’Neal being Shaquille O’Neal, the man came out on top with 31 points, 13 rebounds, and 4 assists.

However, O’Neal was undeniably put on notice. And from that point on, he never messed with Yao Ming to the same degree again.

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