“Hey Shaq, it’s Big Soul, not Big Honey”: A look into Shaquille O’Neal’s list of faux pas moments with international NBA stars Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo

NBA legend and TNT analyst has a hilarious slip up on air while trying to congratulate Nikola Jokic in his native language.

Shaquille O’Neal leaves no stone unturned in welcoming talent from the foreign land in the NBA. However, sometimes the Big Diesel goes too far, leading to some faux pas moments. The prime example of this is Shaq communicating to these stars in their foreign languages.

And Tuesday night’s segment on TNT with reigning MVP Nikola Jokic was no different. Shaq would try to congratulate The Joker on torching a 30-point double-double in a win against the LA Clippers. And like previous times, Shaq would fail in the linguistic test.

Full marks to O’Neal for his attempt at being multi-cultural. The Lakers legend has tried his hands in Serbian, Greek, and Slovenian, to name a few. However, things haven’t gone as planned, leaving the Hall of Famer red-faced on national television.

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Well, this isn’t the first and might not be the last when it comes to Shaq trying to speak to players in their respective native languages.

Shaquille O’Neal needs to hire a tutor for learning foreign languages.

Shaq has a bit of history at trying to communicate to Jokic in Serbian. During the 2021 playoffs, the TNT analyst tried speaking in Serbian only to have The Joker perplexed.

If this wasn’t enough evidence, Shaq had Mavs superstar Luka Doncic in splits while trying to talk to him in Slovenian.

A big fan of Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Diesel tried to convey his best wishes to the two-time MVP in Greek. But Giannis can forgive Shaq considering the latter lent him his Superman name.

Though Shaq rarely gets it right, nothing stops him from learning new words in different languages. Nonetheless, we all look forward to watching the four-time champion attempt talking to the international players in their respective native languages.

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The Hall of Famer continues to bring a smile to everyone’s face while it has been a decade since he retired from the hardwood.