Shaquille O’Neal Once Embarrassed an NCAA Investigator Over a ‘Phony’ Cellphone

Former LSU big, Shaquille O’Neal, was one of the best college basketball prospects in the early 90s. However, it could have been hampered because of the strict NCAA eligibility rules, which a young Shaq almost violated with a ‘phony’ phone. He wrote about it in his 2001 book Shaq Talks Back.

In a book that came out 9 years after his NBA Debut, Shaq wrote how he almost lost his place in the 1992 draft because of a fake cell phone he was using to impress girls.

“The NCAA was watching. They even paid me a visit one day. How about this story: It takes place before everybody started having cell phones—they were still expensive back then. I wanted to impress girls, so I had this big, clunky thing that looked just like a cell phone. It was called Cell-U-Clone. Whenever I’d walk through the quad, I’d press it and it would start ringing. I’d act like I was talking, ‘Yeah, what’s up?’” , O’Neal wrote.

He went on about it in detail, revealing how it instead turned out to be an embarrassing moment for the investigator who probably came there to check whether Shaq was getting money from an agent.

“Well, Dale Brown called me in his office one day. Sure enough, there was an NCAA investigator waiting.

‘Shaq, you got a phone?’ Coach Brown asked.

‘Yeah, I got a phone,’ I said.

The NCAA dude asked how much it cost.

‘Ten dollars,’ I said.

‘Who did you get it from? Who’s paying your bill?’

‘I ain’t got no bill.’

‘How do you have a cell phone and no bill?’

I pulled it out and showed him my phony-ass cell phone. He was embarrassed for coming all the way down to the school. True story,” wrote O’Neal.

Considering how Shaq is, this surely a tale he would’ve laughed about for several years. Afterall, the NCAA rules were much stricter back then.

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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