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Shaquille O’Neal loves making kids laugh, but his efforts don’t always go to plan. His intimidating 7’1” frame can be overwhelming, and sometimes, kids are simply hard to impress. One such moment came when O’Neal tried to entertain Dwyane Wade’s baby daughter, Kaavia James. The child’s mother, Gabrielle Union, shared the amusing throwback on her Instagram.
The clip, from a March 2020 episode of Inside the NBA, shows O’Neal, Wade, Adam Lefkoe, and Candace Parker filming a video call episode due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the video, Shaq and his former Miami Heat teammate Wade appear on a split screen, with 16-month-old Kaavia sitting in her dad’s lap.
Introducing himself as “Uncle Shaqqy,” O’Neal tries to win over Kaavia’s attention, but she keeps a poker face. Then he lets his goofy nature loose. He makes funny faces and produces silly sounds, from doing “La La La” to playful noises with his lips. Despite Shaq’s energetic efforts, Kaavia remains unimpressed, her expression unchanging.
After multiple attempts to get a reaction, Shaq finally asks Wade, “Did that work?” Wade, hiding his face under his shirt as he struggles to contain his laughter, replies, “No, I don’t think so.”
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Gabrielle Union captioned the Instagram clip showing her daughter’s deadpan reaction: “She really did not care about Shaq.”
Gab dug up footage of the time Shaq tried to make their daughter laugh pic.twitter.com/W6AOGWRgM2
— What are (W)NBA Celebs Upto? (@NBACelebsUpdate) October 20, 2024
Though Lefkoe, Wade, and Parker found O’Neal’s actions funny, Kaavia remained unfazed. But at least she didn’t react like Kevin Hart’s son when he met Shaq.
When Shaq made Kevin Hart’s son cry
O’Neal leaves no stone unturned to make children laugh, but as we’ve mentioned, they can often be intimidated by his height. In a 2021 video call, O’Neal made a playful bet with Kevin Hart. O’Neal wagered $1,000 that he could make Hart’s then 3-year-old son, Kenzo, smile. Hart immediately made a $1,000 counter-bet that Kenzo would cry instead.
Right away, things went quickly south for O’Neal. Although Kenzo initially reacted positively to O’Neal’s “Hi,” he quickly burst into tears when Shaq flashed his pearly whites.
Hart, seeing his son’s reaction, asked if he was scared of Shaq, to which Kenzo replied, “Yes.”
Shaq lost the bet, and Hart didn’t waste the opportunity to roast him afterward. He uploaded the video on Instagram, captioning it, “Shaq made my son cry and never paid me. This is unacceptable.”
Kids often display a reserved nature when meeting someone they don’t know. Though Shaq has loads of charm, meeting someone as larger-than-life as him can sometimes be overwhelming for children.
