Before Shaquille O’Neal attained his 32-inch vertical, he used a “cheat dunk” to break his first backboard

A young Shaquille O’Neal was so eager to dunk that he used to perform “cheat dunks” in high school and even broke his first backboard!

Shaquille O’Neal has been a freak athlete all his life. He has dominated every single division he played in. But like everyone else, he was also once a kid.

And like every kid, he had the enthusiasm for excelling in every facet of sports, particularly basketball. Given his size and prowess, there was one thing he wanted to do since he was a young age, dunk.

Of course, today the word “slam dunk” itself might be synonymous with O’Neal. But before all that, he was eager. He wanted to dunk. And on Hot Ones, the popular show where guests eat hot wings while Shaun Evans asks them tough questions, Shaq told us about his first dunk.

And contrary to popular belief, it wasn’t even a real dunk! It was a “cheat dunk”!

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Shaquille O’Neal used “Apple Boxes” to perform his first “cheat dunk” and break the backboard!

As the big man recounts the tale, he talks about he was so eager to do a dunk, he used “apple boxes” to get some lift and reach the rim. Of course, this was all before he had the 32-inch vertical.

Shaq talks about how his gym coach, then told him that that wasn’t a real dunk and that when he actually does it, he will be there to celebrate with him. This was in his junior year and just the next season, he made the real dunk.

Happy birthday to the man, the myth, the legend- @SHAQ 🔥

Thanks for coming on #HotOnes. Thanks for rockin’ the Reebok X Hot Ones Shaqnosis on AEW. And thanks for apologizing to Kansas. pic.twitter.com/4y58FxZEl7

— First We Feast (@firstwefeast) March 6, 2021

Shaq says that his gym coach was also overjoyed that he made a real dunk. And instead of holding onto the punishment of breaking the backboard, he hugged him.

What a wholesome tale and it just goes to show that putting your belief in someone can go a long way.

Also read: Shaquille O’Neal, Who Gifted LeBron James a $450,000 Rolls Royce, Was Given His ‘Fifth Ring’ By The King