Over the years in the league, fans have often coined some amazing nicknames for their favourite players. Some of those nicknames came from fans whereas others had a different origin story. And if there’s one player who had too many nicknames to count, it is none other than Shaquille O’Neal. Recently, Shaq broke down on how he got one of his famous nicknames, ‘Superman’, which sent the Inside the NBA crew in splits.
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Shaq went on to narrate how he came up with the ‘Superman’ nickname. The first movie that Shaq ever saw was Superman and how it had a train tracks scene that started all this.
When Shaq was young, he had to cross train tracks while going to school. One day he tried to recreate the scene while the train was way back in its tracks. A young O’Neal started running and managed to beat the train. Or at least he thought he did in his mind, leading him to call himself Superman.
Kenny Smith pointed out that this was the first time Shaq mentioned that he beat the train in his head when in fact, over the years he had told everyone that he did, and that made him feel like Superman.
As Shaq tried to charm his co-hosts with the origin story of his nickname, Charles Barkley immediately said,
“Man, I wish that train had’a hit him. That would’ve been great.” He also went on to add, “We gotta fire the train driver for not hitting his a**.”
Shaquille O’Neal may have coined that nickname for himself but he sure did live up to it. The Big Aristotle is often credited as the most dominant center in NBA history and rightfully so. The way Shaq manhandled defenders in the paint was nearly unguardable, the Superman title sure did justice to him.
Shaq even has a tattoo of the Superman logo on his bicep and the world got to see him performing feats of strength during his career.
Shaquille O’Neal’s love for the DC character
Shaquille O’Neal’s love for Superman may have started with the movie when he first saw it. But his love for the Man of Steel goes deeper than that and O’Neal sure has the credentials to show for it.
Shaq had once played the role of Steel in a movie with the same name back in 1997. Originating in the DC universe, Steel was a character that comes from the Superman comics over the years.
O’Neal’s love for Superman was evident when he once revealed that he even mourned the death of the Son of Krypton. This was when DC introduced ‘Doomsday’ and released Superman#75: The Death of Superman.
And despite some players trying to coin that nickname for themselves after Shaq, it may be safe to say that the Superman nickname still lives with fans imagining the Purple & Gold center.
