Shaquille O’Neal seems to have fully recovered from his hip replacement surgery, which he underwent almost 49 weeks ago on 16 March 2023. Throughout his career, Shaq was known for his prolific dunking prowess, even breaking down rims with his sheer power. However, can a 51-year-old Shaq still dunk the same way as his younger self? The latest episode of the Inside The NBA show presented a rare opportunity to watch legends Vince Carter and Shaquille O’Neal dunking once again.
Advertisement
O’Neal was integral to this year’s dunk contest, serving as a hype man for participants Jaime Jacquez Jr. and Mac McClung during the competition. While the two stars stunned the audience with their outstanding performances during the contest, it was time for the Big Aristotle to test whether he retained his incredible prowess from his yester years.
Vince Carter did not look quite rusty with his dunking prowess either. Though Carter was dunking on a rim being held by a TNT crew person trying to posterize Shaq, the big fella had to show that he hadn’t lost touch either. Taking a ball that was even smaller than his palm, Shaq tried attempting a windmill dunk but could only tip the ball inside the rim.
However, when Vince Carter tried the same, he still seemed to have retained his insane vertical and slammed the ball inside the rim inside the TNT studio’s basketball rim.
Though these legends have lost their touch, they were the pioneers in setting the benchmark for dunking in the league. The current slam dunk participants all look up to Vince Carter and Shaq as inspirations for crafting the art of slam. This was evident from a young Jaime Jacquez Jr., who had looked up to the Diesel since the early age of 2.
Shaquille O’Neal once dunked on his son Shaqir during practice
After retiring from the league in 2011, Shaquille O’Neal transitioned more into being a business mogul and an analyst than posterizing his opponents on the court. However, Shaq still hadn’t lost his 32″ vertical, which defined all the prolific dunks he had made throughout his storied NBA career.
Last year, an unseen footage of Shaquille O’Neal emerged, appearing to play against his son Shaqir O’Neal during practice. And Shaq did not hold back even while facing his son as the former center dunked on him while going 1-vs-1.
Shaqir shares a clip of Shaq dunking on him
Credits(IG/shaqironeall) pic.twitter.com/h3QMuPmNw6
— What are NBA Celebs Upto? (@NBACelebsUpdate) July 3, 2023
Following in his father’s footsteps, Shaqir also aims to be a basketball player and is currently playing college basketball for Texas Southern University. The clip featured a Shaq, in his late 40s, channeling his inner dunking prowess and putting an insane slam over his son, who must have been around 18 years of age. Perhaps it’s best to conclude that despite being over 50, some skills still seem intact in Shaq’s bag of insane talents and prowesses.
