“I’m the black Stephen Curry!”: When the $400 million net worth Shaquille O’Neal did his best impersonation of the Warriors star by drilling threes in practice

Shaquille O’Neal was good at a lot of things when he played in the NBA, but he was terrible at hitting threes. Yet, he found a way to mimic Stephen Curry once.

The LA legend was the catalyst of the Lakers dynasty in the 2000s. He was the star of a team that won three titles in a row, forming a dynamic duo with Kobe Bryant.

There was nobody who could stop Shaq back in the day. He was the most dominant physical force to have ever played basketball, and he completely owned the paint.

Shaq was a menace on both sides of the ball. He could control the paint with his size, deterring anyone who dared to enter. We haven’t seen anyone dominant the inside game quite like Shaq since his glory days. Back then, he was an absolute beast to watch.

Here, Bryant draws multiple defenders in the paint after O’Neal’s pick. Even though he misses the shot inside, since no one is on Shaq, this allows him to give the put back dunk.

Doug Collins described the play best: pic.twitter.com/fSLjuwVyf1

— KobeFiles (@KobesFiles) June 19, 2022

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Shaquille O’Neal impersonated Stephen Curry once

If there was one thing Shaq couldn’t do, it was shoot the ball. For his career, his free throw percentage is a measly 52.7%. On top of that, he also only made one three pointer ever. That’s right, in his storied 20 year career, Shaquille O’Neal drilled only one three.

It’s remarkable to think about given how the NBA is far more shooting oriented now, and even big men can spot up and hit a three or two in games.

However, there was one time when Shaq literally impersonated Stephen Curry. He was taking and making threes in a practice session, while shouting “Steph Curry” the whole time. He even hilariously called himself the ‘Black Steph Curry’ and hit LeBron James’ pattened chest pumping celebration.

Also Read: Michael Jordan has 4, and Stephen Curry has 3, but there is no room for LeBron James on this list of players

About the author

Ashish Priyadarshi

Ashish Priyadarshi is The SportsRush's content manager and editor. Ashish freelanced for 1 year in the NFL division before taking on an editorial role in the company. He then tacked on managing content while adding on a writing role in the NBA division. Ashish has been closely following the NFL and NBA since the 2012 season when the Patriots lost the Super Bowl and Derrick Rose was at the height of his powers. Since then, Ashish has focused on honing his knowledge for both leagues in, even writing crossover pieces. In his free time, Ashish is an avid basketball player, he loves to watch movies and TV shows, immersing himself in the cinematic world. Ashish studies computer science and data science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and would love to mesh his love for sports with his technical skills.

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