Shaquille O’Neal was born to perform in front of the camera. Therefore, after retiring from his illustrious career as the NBA’s most dominant center, Shaq just couldn’t sit at home and relax. In fact, the Big Diesel’s wild antics reached a new height because now he had all the time in the world to do whatever he wanted. In a decision he probably went on to regret later on, the four-time NBA Champion went on a forest trek with famous adventurer Bear Grylls in 2016. At one point during the trek, Shaq found himself recounting the proudest moment of his career to Bear while dining on a freshly discovered Deer placenta.
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Shaquille O’Neal appeared on an entertaining episode of Running Wild with Bear Grylls in 2016. The popular show revolved around Bear Grylls guiding popular celebrities through dangerous terrains while giving them a masterclass on survival. The Shaq episode presented some of the most funniest moments of the show, some of which included the big man’s hilarious reaction to Grylls proposing the consumption of a freshly discovered placenta of a deer.
Shaquille O’Neal asked Bear Grylls to close his eyes and live through the moment
During their hike through the forest, Shaquille O’Neal and Bear Grylls stumbled on a placenta lying on the ground. Grylls explained that it was recently discarded after a deer gave birth to her baby. He then proposed that they cut a portion of the placenta and take it with them because it could serve as a fresh source of protein in the wild.
Grylls touching the deer placenta disgusted Shaq. But when the then 42-year-old explorer asked him to cut through it with his pocket knife, the big man was completely grossed out. He tentatively followed the instructions while vocalizing mild dissent.
Afterwards, the duo sat-down for dinner with their new-found source of protein. Almost as if to divert Shaq’s attention from the placenta, Bear asked him about the proudest moment of his career. This somewhat stabilized the big man and brought back his lively spirits. “You ready to dream with me? Close your eyes,” Shaq told his host.
He placed his massive hand on Grylls’ shoulder and started recounting the final moments of Game 7 of the 2000 Western Conference Finals: “You’re inside the Staples Center. The Lakers were down the whole 4th quarter by 16, if they lose this game they’ll not go to the Finals. Kobe has the ball at the top of the key, he crosses Scottie Pippen up, he goes to the lane…it’s a lob. The lob is too high. Oh my God, Shaq comes out of nowhere and throws it down!”
Even though Grylls didn’t seem to be feeling the story as much as Shaq would have liked him to, the 7ft 1″ giant explained the meaning behind his iconic celebration after the dunk. The Lakers legend revealed that he was actually pointing to his then two-year-old son Shareef who had pleaded him to win the contest the day before the game.
The game in question was probably the turning point in both Shaq and Kobe’s careers. The Portland Trail Blazers went into the final 12 minutes of Game 7 of the WCF leading by 13 points. However, the Portland team infamously suffered a string of embarrassing misses. The dynamic duo of Shaq and Kobe capitalized on the Blazers’ comedy of errors and took the Lakers to the 2000 NBA Finals, where they would win the first Championship of their three-peat.
Shaq reminded fans of another funny Bear Grylls episode
Bear Grylls has had many fun episodes with numerous celebrities on Running Wild. However, the Marshawn Lynch episode of the show was on a different level altogether.
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Shaq shared a video earlier this year to remind fans of the hilarious episode. Lynch’s reaction to Bear trying to catch a wild hog really left fans gasping for air.
