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“Elliuqahs Laeno Is The Person That I am Not Allowed To be”: Shaquille O’Neal Once Claimed To Have Two Personalities and Multiple Names  

Jeet Pukhrambam
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"Elliuqahs Laeno Is The Person That I am Not Allowed To Be": Shaquille O'Neal Once Claimed To Have Two Personalities and Multiple Names  

Shaquille O’Neal is not the kind of person to think he is normal. No, the most dominant ever thinks he is special. So special, in fact, that he believed that he had multiple personalities at one point in time. To an extent, even we the spectator could see that. off the court, he was a smiling mild-mannered man and on it, he was a monster. Very Jekyll and Hyde of him. But according to the big man in 2002, he said that he had another side to his personality, one called “Elliuqahs Laeno”.

Weird name. But what does it mean? As per an interview with The New Yorker, Shaq felt that he had a nemesis residing inside of him. Sure, he was unique on and off the court. But there was another version of him, a far more sinister side to him. He called that version “His nemesis”.

Elliuqahs Laeno, the nefarious side of Shaquille O’Neal

Shaquille O’Neal felt that his bad side was named, “Elliuqahs Laeno”, which was actually just his name in reverse. Speaking to Rebecca Mead of The New Yorker, Shaq had a lot to say.

O’Neal considers himself to have a dual nature. “Shaquille is corporate, nice-looking, soft-spoken, wears suits, and is very cordial to people, whereas Shaq is the dominant athlete who is the two-time champion,” he told me. “They are the same person, but it’s kind of like Clark Kent and Superman. During the day, I am Shaquille, and at night I am Shaq.” O’Neal also has a nemesis, an evil twin, whom he calls Elliuqahs Laeno. “That’s my name spelled backward,” he said. “That’s the person that I am not allowed to be because of my status. He does what a normal young rich guy would do—party, hang out, (and) use bad language. He stays out all night, tries to practice the next day, (and) isn’t focused. That is him. He’s dead, though. I killed him off.”

The Laker legend claimed that he had killed that side off. Seeing as he was maturing and needed to be wise with money, O’Neal knew that he had to be cautious. It is an approach that has helped him.

Shaq has managed to contain “Elliuqahs Laeno”, for the most part

If you look back at his words, you will notice that Shaq was awfully weary of the fact that he didn’t become that. He didn’t want to be a young rich guy nor he ever behaved like one.

Even when he was partying or splurging his money, he did so with caution. Over time, Shaq has become known for his business and investment savvy. We think he might be glad that his “nemesis” has died off.

About the author

Jeet Pukhrambam

Jeet Pukhrambam

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Jeet Pukhrambam is The SportsRush's Lead Editor for Basketball. After freelancing for five years as an independent writer, Jeet created thousands of blog posts and articles. He now covers intriguing news reports and throwback stories on all things NBA. His interest in NBA started with the ascendancy of Giannis Antetokounmpo in the 2016-17 season. Since then, Jeet has managed to coalesce his knowledge of the game and his writing to create pieces that are reflective of the current state of the league. Now, he ensures that The SportsRush produces the highest quality of writing. In his free time, he enjoys playing football, cooking, traveling, and dancing to techno. Jeet takes pride in his critical thinking, music playlists, and his love for spaghetti.

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