Shaquille O’Neal’s pranking on NBA legend Charles Barkley always humors everyone in the basketball community. Last year, in 2022, Shaq filled Chuck’s car with hordes of packing peanuts as a nasty prank. Though Chuck did not mind Shaq pulling such shenanigans, he sure was embarrassed once again in front of the crew and the viewers of TNT’s ‘Inside the NBA’ show. Just a year since Shaq’s prank, it seems like others in the league are catching up to the Big Diesel’s shenanigans.
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2019 NBA champion and Los Angeles Clippers player Norman Powell pranked his fellow teammate Moussa Diabate by filling his car with loads of popcorn. Surely, Diabate had difficulty cleaning this mess up and thought of never leaving his car keys off himself!
Shaquille O’Neal inspires Norman Powell to prank his 21-year-old teammate Moussa Diabate
Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley never tire of their shenanigans against each other. From being the hardest rivals in the league to fellow TNT analysts, sure, Shaq and Chuck have come a long way. Since then, the two great NBA legends have built a bonding relationship of fun and frolic, clearly visible from their dynamic in the Inside the NBA show.
Back in 2022, Barkley pranked the big man by throwing water bottles at him. Shaq, being himself, was not going to stay quiet about this prank. In the most typical manner expected of him, the Diesel clapped back at Chuck by filling his car with loads of packing peanuts overflowing from the insides.
Surely, Chuck had an uncomfortable ride back home, regretting his poor choice of pranking the biggest prankster in the NBA himself.
Just a year later, the 2019 NBA champion and current Clippers player Norman Powell gained much inspiration from this prank. In an attempt to replicate Shaq’s elaborate prank, Powell filled his 21-year-old teammate Moussa Diabate’s car with popcorn from the inside. The clip from Powell’s Instagram story was reposted by BASKETBALL on X, with the caption of the Clippers star saying,
“Got you ass Moussa Diabate.”
Norman Powell filled Moussa Diabate’s car with Popcorn
[via NormanPowell / IG] pic.twitter.com/OKDeQcsbD8
— BASKETBALL ON (@BasketballOnX) October 20, 2023
The Big Diesel Shaq does inspire people in 0ne way or the other. While some want to be as dominant as him in the league, others want to replicate his silly and goofy nature off the court. This is something that makes basketball extremely wholesome, giving fans a moment of fun and frolic to relish away from the competitive nature of the league.
Giannis Antetokoumpo had a similar prank pulled against a Bucks rookie
Four years before Shaq’s prank on Charles Barkley, Antetokoumpo pulled a similar prank on a Bucks rookie by filling his car with overflowing popcorn. Adding his insight to this prank, Giannis said:
“This is what rookies get when they don’t do their rookie duties. This is what they get. So, if you are a rookie in this league, better listen to your vets and do your rookie duties.”
It has always been an unwritten rule in the league for rookies to pay their dues to the veterans. Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant have both humbled rookies in their teams through their sheer aura and fierce nature both on and off the court.
As for Antetokounmpo, the man surely had his own ways of humbling his team’s rookies, especially by making their ride home uncomfortable after a game or a practice.
