The Orlando Magic edged out the Toronto Raptors for a comfortable 15-point victory yesterday. The matchup between the two Eastern Conference teams on a stacked Sunday schedule might not have caught the attention of many fans. But a post-game gaffe from Orlando Magic guard Anthony Black and Toronto Raptors star Gradey Dick prompted the relatively uneventful contest at Kia Center to grab the limelight on NBA Twitter.
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After the game concluded, Anthony Black and Gradey Dick decided to swap jerseys, which is a pretty common custom followed by many players. However, a photograph of the two players holding each other’s jerseys soon started going viral on social media because of the NSFW term that is formed by combining both of their last names. According to a FTW report, Orlando Magic’s social media team also joined in on the action by posting the image on their account. But they soon deleted it, realizing that it might not be the wisest choice of content.
Shaq posted it three times in a row pic.twitter.com/ZlIQKyRfWl
— What are NBA Celebs Upto? (@NBACelebsUpdate) March 18, 2024
However, NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal, who thrives on pranking his TNT co-stars on national television, had no such qualms. He shared the viral photo circulating on the Internet on three slides in a row on his Instagram stories. It was pretty clear that the Big Diesel was having the time of his life with the suggestive joke that was formed from a relatively innocent photograph.
The jersey swap might have been intentional
While most fans thought the viral jersey swap to be an honest mistake, recent evidence has indicated that Anthony Black and Gradey Dick might have intentionally concocted the whole thing. As seen in this clip posted by Rob Perez, the two 20-year-olds could be seen discussing something with a smile on their face before the whole thing transpired.
Knew exactly what they were doing. Watch Gradey say “f**k it…” at the beginning of this, and Anthony re-position himself. pic.twitter.com/N70ryyaeC1
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) March 18, 2024
The two rookies even called a photographer nearby to record their jersey swap. All this points to the direction that the two youngsters thought of the joke beforehand and executed it perfectly. Whatever maybe the case, the fans were certainly entertained by the whole debacle, and so was Shaq.