Shaquille O’Neal may be an NBA legend, but his legacy doesn’t stop there. Even during his career in the league, he loved to branch out and try different things, sometimes even earning some money from them. On one such occasion, in 2009, Shaq decided to compete against Olympic swimmer, Michael Phelps. Admittedly, the results were a bit surprising.
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Of course, this wasn’t an even contest. Phelps is a professional swimmer, who has won 23 gold medals at the Olympics. While he hadn’t racked up a tally this high by the time this competition rolled around, the quality was always there.
So, while Phelps had to cover 50 years, Shaq only had to swim 25 yards. That said, the professional swimmer did get a five-second headstart.
Despite everything, Phelps was considered the undisputed favorite to win this incredible contest. However, O’Neal came ready to compete and surprisingly, won the first leg of the contest.
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Things were looking up for the 7ft 1″ big man. And perhaps he reveled in his victory a bit too much. After all, while he managed to pull off a huge upset in round 1, rounds 2 and 3 weren’t particularly close.
Phelps emerged the victor by 2 races to 1
In round 2, both sides were asked to do a 200m medley. However, while Shaq received the help of 3 female Olympic swimmers, and only had to cover 50 yards, Phelps came away with an easy victory, bringing the score to 1-1 ahead of the final round.
The series decider was a freestyle event that required Shaq to cover 50 yards, while Phelps attempted to cover 75 yards. And once again, while O’Neal tried his hardest, it was The Baltimore Bullet who came away with the victory.
Still, while he did lose, Shaq’s decision to do this brought great entertainment to everyone watching, something the former NBA man has been all about forever now. It is his affinity for entertainment that makes the Lakers legend a national treasure to this day.
