“He Got Mixed Up With Drugs”: Shaquille O’Neal Defended Notorious B.I.G After the Rapper was Brutally Gunned Down

For those who don’t know, Shaquille O’Neal also spent a lot of time focusing on music apart from dominating the NBA on a nightly basis. A part-time rapper, Shaq had huge admiration for a majority of the artists in the industry.

Christopher George Latore Wallace, famously known as The Notorious B.I.G, was one of the closest friends who actually shared a lot of things in common. Apart from spending time together, the two celebrities even joined forces and made a song together – “Can’t Stop The Reign”.

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“Biggie was the sweetest guy”: Shaquille O’Neal

In his autobiography, “Shaq Uncut: My Story”, the Big Aristotle spoke about his relationship with Biggie in extreme detail.

Apart from revealing his love for the several time Grammy Nominated rapper, the Diesel tried to clear any misconceptions that people might have. Stating that a lot of the rapper’s “anger and bad language and violence” was just an “act”, the Los Angeles Lakers legend explained how B.I.G was different from other rappers:

The rap world is violent. Lots of guys, before they got into the rap game, lived their lives on the edge. Gunplay and drugs are a part of everyday life in their world. You can’t hide from it. It’s part of them. When you bring groceries up the steps to your apartment, it’s there. When you visit your cousin, it’s there. When you go to play ball in the park, it’s there. I can understand it because I saw the same kind of scene every day in Newark, New Jersey. If you don’t break away from it, it will break you.

I really believe people had the wrong idea about Biggie. When he was doing his raps, his art, there was anger and bad language and violence. But a lot of that was an act. His life wasn’t perfect. He had some troubles, got mixed up with drugs. But when you met him he was just the sweetest guy, very polite, very humble. I miss him.

Providing the music world with some of the greatest hits, Biggie’s career was cut short when the rapper was gunned down at age 24.

Shaq was supposed to attend the party where B.I.G was killed

Shaq would spend hours with his friend. However, there was one time when the 7-footer decided not to attend a party with Biggie.

This would be the same party where the music icon was gunned down. The NBA Hall-Of-Famer said:

“Biggie Smalls was one of my favorite rappers. I saw him three days before he was murdered and actually was supposed to go to the party he was killed at.”

Certainly, a great decision to say home on the 9th of March, however, the 4-time NBA champ did lose his best friend.

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