Shaquille O’Neal has a history of calling people the wrong name – Usain Bolt was his target when he was on the Phoenix Suns.
Advertisement
Back in 2008, Usain Bolt was all the rage, winning the Olympics gold and soaring to superstardom. Every kid on the block wanted to be him, and some athletes too. Shaquille O’Neal, in his younger days, was deceptively quick, and when he was training with the Suns in 2008-09, he wanted to show off his speed.
Shaq was IShowSpeed before the kid, wanting to show off his pace. In a training session with Robin Lopez, he was waiting for his turn to do the hoop-to-hoop runs. Shaq was asking a stumped Lopez what the track star’s name was, and in typical Lopez fashion, he just nodded for everything.
Running between the posts, Shaq looked pretty spry for his age. Coming off a career-low with Miami, he was ready to jog back up the ranks. If being “Osain Bolton” was the way to go, so be it!
Shaquille O’Neal was probably in the best shape of his life after the Lakers on Phoenix – too bad he could not maintain it
In the latter years of his Lakers career and Boston, Shaq was pretty long in the waistband. Shaq shed some of his excess weight during his time in Phoenix.
He looked invigorated as if he was closer to retirement, but it all fell flat. Never known for his work ethic, Shaq traded the gym for some donuts. He played just about a hundred games with the Suns, and the arid desert scenery motivated him to get better, after living on the west and east coast beaches for 10 years.
He saw his form take an upturn as well, scoring about 17 points a game, still effective as a rotational center. O’Neal had his understudy, Robin Lopez, with him, and he still plays the same. If only Shaq lifted weights as often as he lifted his hand to eat a chicken wing, he’d be the greatest of all time.
