Shaquille O’Neal has displayed through his actions over the years that he is quite the prankster in the NBA community. Shaq’s shenanigans with his NBA on TNT co-host Charles Barkley is a perpetual source of entertainment for basketball fans worldwide. However, as it turns out, Shaq’s pranks were much more uncouth back in the day, when he was dominating the hardwood and tearing down rims. The Big Diesel’s former teammate Gary Payton recently recounted a gross prank story during a podcast episode, putting the Big Man in an uncomfortable position.
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Shaq and Payton are no less than brothers in the NBA community. The Big Man played a huge part in recruiting the 6’4 guard to the Lakers in 2003 following the LA side’s iconic three-peat. Payton was at the dusk of his career, looking for a championship that would redefine his legacy. Therefore, Shaq decided to give his ‘elder brother’ a call and form a superteam.
However, things would soon turn sour in paradise after the Lakers’ superteam, consisting of prime Shaq and Kobe, Gary Payton and Karl Malone, would fail to get it done in the NBA Finals against a relatively understaffed Detroit side. Soon, Shaq and Payton would leave LA but team up together in Miami to eventually win the coveted NBA championship in 2006. Despite such rich history together, the 54-year old refused to let his little brother off the hook, resurfacing this mortifying story of his past actions.
Gary Payton recalls Shaquille O’Neal dumping feces on Lakers rookie
During a recent appearance on The Big Podcast, Gary Payton was awarded the golden opportunity by Shaquille O’Neal himself to recount an embarrassing story involving him to the audience. Payton didn’t need a second invitation. The nine-time NBA All-Star exposed Shaq once again for dumping fecal matter on a Lakers rookie he didn’t like.
Payton said:
“We had the rookie on the Lakers…Devean George…so Shaq didn’t really like him…So he was like, u-huh, watch, watch, Imma get him. Imma get him. So he[Shaq] kept using the bathroom in a bucket. He just kept doing all kinds of stuff in a bucket. He kept it going for a week. And I’m like, ‘What is your problem dude? Why is you so nasty!‘”
“So Devean before practice, or after practice, used to always use the bathroom. So he had got showered up, everything…so he[Shaq] went and he had a big ol’ bucket, a container. And put the lid on it and he kept using the bathroom...[Shaq] went in the closet, got the bucket…and he just dumped it all on him[George].”
The story made Shaq’s co-hosts Nischelle Turner and Spice Adams cringe in disgust. On the other hand, the Big Man couldn’t contain his laughter.
Even though the story is funny to Shaq, his action could have caused a lot of problems. Dumping human waste on somebody could cause infections and other kinds of illnesses. Fortunately for him, things didn’t go awry.
Shaq is often on the receiving end of pranks
The four-time NBA champion is not immune to pranks. In fact, his propensity to prank others has often given people around him the green signal to get back at him.
For example, Hollywood star Adam Sandler once made Shaq redo a kissing scene 50 times as a prank while shooting a Halloween movie for Netflix. To add insult to injury, the Lakers icon’s son Myles O’Neal once stuffed cheetos in his father’s mouth and nostrils, when he was fast asleep in his private jet.
Additionally, Shaq is often the subject of pranks on the TNT studio. But the Big Fella always handles them like a good sport, with a big smile in his face.
