Shaquille O’Neal’s post-career career has been defined by the personality he displayed as a player. He’s funny, so he does comedy. He’s built a character, so he plays them as an actor. He pranked his co-workers when he was on a team, and now that he’s in an office, well, he’s still going to prank his co-workers.
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Normally, the target of his pranks is his co-star and friend, Charles Barkley. While the two jaw back and forth regularly, Shaq has regularly pulled the wool over the eyes of Barkley. There are many stories of this, from Shaq’s stealing of the answers on an episode of “Who He Play For” to calling the former Auburn star a hippopotamus.
It doesn’t get much crazier, however, than when Shaq tried to convince Chuck that his grandson was Shaq’s biological child. After enlisting comedian Roy Wood Jr., the pair planned (it was mostly Shaq telling Wood what to do) to troll Barkley. The crew had a good laugh, but it sounds like the prank wasn’t believable and fell apart quickly.
Another one of the aggrieved parties of Shaq’s pranks was Stephen A. Smith. Smith once received a call while live on air from a “fan” named “Tex Johnson.” It did not take long for Stephen A. to realize that the poorly done Texas accent was Shaq, causing the big man to start laughing, blowing his cover.
Shaq was once again joined by Wood on his podcast and tried to run a similar prank on Smith this time. Shaq wanted Wood to call Smith and claim that he was marrying Smith’s baby mother and that he would never see his daughter again, much to the comedian’s worry.
Joking about Smith’s half-joke, half-real presidential candidacy, Wood said, “He becomes president, he’ll deport my a**.”
After Shaq claimed he would protect the Canadian-born Wood, the duo called Smith’s number. When the busy ESPN host failed to answer, a dejected Shaq and relieved Wood left a message.
While the prank was an abject failure, Shaq still took joy in it, as he does with all of his jokes, even when they’re not funny. Some would argue that is the best trait a comedian can have. If you always find yourself funny, there’s no end to the jokes you can write.
