First impressions are everything, and Shaquille O’Neal immediately got a glimpse into Mike Tyson’s wild personality when he met him for the first time. He recalled being blitzed by his pet tiger upon meeting up with the boxer in his house. However, once Shaq saw Tyson wrestle the animal into submission, he knew the fighter was the real deal.
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O’Neal and Money Mike sat down recently to do a live show on The Big Podcast with Shaq. At the start of the show, the two recounted how they met for the first time. After Tyson misremembered, Shaq quickly corrected him with an unforgettable story that you have to hear.
At the time, O’Neal was going to the boxer’s house to watch a fight. When he arrived, he rang the doorbell, and Tyson told him to enter with his high-pitched lisp. He thought nothing of it and entered the home. Then, he was met with a warm welcome from Mike’s pet.
“So, I open the door, right? There’s nobody in the lobby. So, you know, I want to make myself at home. I start walking, a f*cking tiger comes running down the stairs. A real white tiger,” O’Neal shared.
With nobody in the room, Shaq probably saw his life flash before his eyes. The big cat came charging right at him down the stairs, and we all know how they feel about protecting their territory. So, O’Neal turned and tried to run.
The Diesel was then asked a hilarious question.
“How much sh*t came out of your a**?” Shaq’s co-host asked.
“A lot,” Shaq responded.
Understandably! Could you imagine being chased by a white tiger? They can grow up to 9 feet long and weigh about 500 pounds on average. They’re extinct in the wild and only held in captivity, but you don’t want to find out if it can tap into its natural wild instincts anytime soon.
Yet, when all hope seemed lost, Tyson came to O’Neal’s rescue.
“Mike came and he started wrestling the tiger,” Shaq said. The sight gave him an idea. “I told my boy, ‘I’m not a gambling man, but I wish I had a million dollars to put on the fight. I just seen this man stop a full-grown f****** tiger.’”
It’s something that Tyson probably had to do a lot whenever hosting new guests. White tigers are beautiful, majestic creatures. But they are also extremely territorial and usually prefer to live alone. Who knows if things got uglier with different guests in Tyson’s house?
O’Neal’s co-host then asked him another funny, facetious question after hearing about the experience.
“Shaq, did you ever think about buying a tiger?” his co-host asked.
“No.”
All in all, it’s a funny memory for the NBA legend to look back on. It could’ve gone horribly wrong if Tyson didn’t get to the tiger in time, but his expertise in subduing the animal impressed O’Neal to the point that he wanted to place a massive wager on his friend as a joke.
Who cares if Shaq actually ended up placing the bet? All that matters is that he stared Tyson’s tiger down once and lived to tell the tale.
