Having Lied About Crafting Own ‘Hall of Fame Ring,’ Shaquille O’Neal Celebrates Dwyane Wade, Pau Gasol, Tony Parker, and Dirk Nowitzki Getting Their HOF Rings

The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony will take place today at 8 PM E.T. in Springfield, Massachusetts. The 2023 Hall of Fame class consists of some great players from the last decade, which includes Dwyane Wade, Pau Gasol, Dirk Nowitzki, and Tony Parker getting their rings.

Shaquille O’Neal, enshrined as a Hall of Famer in 2016, is quite elated about his fellow buddies and colleagues being inducted into the 2023 class. Sharing his excitement with his 34 million Instagram followers, Shaq shared a video of Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, Pau Gasol, and D-Wade flexing their rings before the enshrinement ceremony.

During his 2016 HOF enshrinement, Shaq told Seth Meyers how he was involved in crafting his ring. However, Shaq was joking about it and that was not the case. The Lakers legend had crafted a separate ring for himself while receiving an official ring during the HOF ceremony. Shaq’s custom ring has symbols of the Miami Heat and the Lakers etched, along with his iconic No.34 jersey number.

Shaquille O’Neal congratulates his buddies for being enshrined into the 2023 class of the Basketball Hall of Fame

Ahead of the ceremony today, 2023 HOF inductees received their Hall of Fame jackets and rings. In a video shared by Shaq, Dirk Nowitzki, Dwyane Wade, Pau Gasol, and Tony Parker can be seen flexing their new achievement and posing in front of the camera.

Shaq was elated to have his fellow league colleagues enshrined in the Hall of Fame. Here is the video, uploaded by Bleacher Report on Instagram, that Shaq reposted on his story.

Shaquille O’Neal is known to lend praise and flowers to athletes who deserve them. Having played with Dwyane Wade and competed against the rest, Shaq well knows the legendary statuses of the 2023 inductees. Hence, there is no surprise in believing why the Big Diesel is extremely elated and celebrating the achievement of his league colleagues.

Shaq once lied to Seth Meyers about having received his customized HOF ring

The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame ring has a generic or similar design pattern for every inductee. No unique customization or design changes are accommodated for any inductee. But Shaq’s case was different. After being enshrined as a Hall of Famer, he was seen flexing his HOF ring, which looked quite different than the rest.

In a 2016 appearance in Late Night with Seth Meyers, Shaq finally admitted that his HOF ring was custom-made. Aside from receiving his HOF ring, Shaq made a customized version in his own style. His new ring was much larger than the original, having his iconic jersey number 34 and symbols of the Heat and the Lakers etched in it. As Shaq said himself, he is the Hall of Fame Ambassador of Fun.