1 Year After His ‘Flew 20 Hours’ Conspiracy, Shaquille O’Neal Highlights Paul George’s ‘Eerie’ Number Change from 13 to 14

Nithin Joseph | 27/08/2023
1 Year After His 'Flew 20 Hours' Conspiracy, Shaquille O'Neal Highlights Paul George's 'Eerie' Number Change From 13 To 14

Shaquille O’Neal has been busy this offseason posting different kinds of intriguing stories on social media to keep his fans engaged. And one of the things Shaq likes posting about is bizarre basketball conspiracy theories. Recently, the Big Diesel resurfaced a conspiracy that had many NBA fans shocked back in 2019. Sharing a video of the incident on Instagram, Shaq highlighted a conspiracy theory surrounding Paul George. The video showed George went up for a slam dunk during an All-Star game wearing the No.13 jersey, but came down with the No.14.

Shaq is not new to conspiracy theories. About a year ago, Shaq made headlines when he kind of endorsed the Flat Earth conspiracy theory. O’Neal claimed that he wasn’t a “flat earther”, but did find it interesting that he once flew 20 hours from the US to Australia and didn’t tip over once. He also went into detail about how his travels in the US have made him think the same, as the earth feels flat to him every time he drives coast to coast. It was quite the take, but Shaq also made it clear that he was just entertaining the idea.

Shaquille O’Neal shares video of Paul George that still bewilders fans

Recently, Shaquille O’Neal shared a video that took the NBA world by storm back in 2019. During the All-Star Game, Paul George can be seen rising up for a 360 dunk. After slamming it in, he lands on the floor and passes by a player, and that’s when things get interesting. Widely known as PG13, fans noticed that in some of the clips, it seemed as though George’s No.13 jersey mysteriously changed to No.14.

This shocked many fans and videos of the exact moment have been shared countless times on the Internet. Shaq’s decision to share this, four years after it occurred shows that it blew even his mind. And it’s something that he still thinks about to this day.

The reality of the situation is that such an occurrence is just not possible. There is no way for a jersey number to change mid-game, and while it does seem that way in the countless videos that have surfaced online, there could be many explanations for the fiasco.

The most viable one is that someone probably edited the clip to make it go viral. Either George’s jersey number was edited or another clip was added to PG’s dunk to make it look like a continuous set of events.

Paul George once recalled an incredible moment from another All-Star Game involving Kobe Bryant

The jersey number change may faze Shaquille O’Neal, but so far, Paul George has paid no attention to it. An eight-time All-Star, PG has had plenty of iconic All-Star moments. However, George’s favorite admittedly came during the 2016 game, when he got to share a special moment with his idol Kobe Bryant.

PG recalled how they both met at the scorer’s table and started chatting. And, in his mind, George was ready to let the game play on and just sit there and listen to the Black Mamba all day long. But players gotta play, and he had to step back onto the court. Luckily for him, he received some words of encouragement from Kobe, that allowed him to go on and score 41 points.

Kobe was the ultimate competitor, but that didn’t stop him from encouraging other players to give their all. And when Kobe tells you to “go get it”, you oblige. So, PG13 did just that.

Post Edited By: Satagni Sikder
NBA Paul George Shaquille O'Neal

About the author

Nithin Joseph

Nithin is a content writer at The SportsRush. Like his favorite athlete Kobe Bryant, the company has helped Nithin elevate his writing skills to a whole new level, especially as an NBA content writer. With over 1500 articles to his name, Nithin's love for the sport knows no bounds. And, as he continues to watch the sport on a daily basis, he hopes his fascination with the NBA, especially the Miami Heat will inspire more and more readers to give the sport a chance. Perhaps, one day making basketball in India as big as it is in the United States.

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