NBA Hall of Famer and former teammate Gary Payton discloses some of Shaquille O’Neal’s nauseating antics towards rookies.
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One of the most dominant players to ever grace the hardwood, Shaquille O’Neal, wasn’t the mentor every rookie would want, given some of his pranks. The former Lakers superstar’s physical stature was intimidating enough to have opponents beat at his mere sight.
Nonetheless, Shaq even instilled fear in his teammates, especially those who had just stepped into the NBA world. During an interview with Vlad TV, Gary Payton, who won a championship along the Diesel in Miami, recalled how the seven-foot center would create paranoia among rookie teammates.
“Shaq is a jokester,” said The Glove. “If one of the rookies would be in the stall, then he would take a bucket and use the bathroom in it for about a week. And then all of a sudden he would pour it on them, so we started being jokester.”
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Payton further added how he did try to prank the former Lakers center, which included stealing his underwear and messing up his pants with Shaq being unfazed.
Speaking of the Big Diesel throwing buckets of poop and urine on his rookie teammates, this wasn’t the Lakers MVP’s first controversy involving the latrines.
Shaquille O’Neal pulled off 5-urinals in a fit of rage.
At the time, the former scoring champion had established himself as one of the most dominant superstars but failed to win when it was required the most, one such case being the 1999 semi-finals against the San Antonio Spurs.
The former Lakers center was swept by Gregg Popovich and his crew, causing him to flare out in a rage, resulting in the following actions, as admitted by him on the Jimmy Kimmel Show.
“So, you remember when I first got to LA in 96, we would always lose in the playoffs. We would always get swept. So this was the time where, you know, ‘Shaq, he’s a great player but is he really a great player? He’s not winning championships.’ I never thought we would win. So, you know, every year we got better, Kobe and myself, but then when it come to the playoffs, we would lose. So, and one last time before we hit three in a row, I just went in the office, and I just ripped five off the wall.”
(Time Stamp: 2:30 mark)
Hopefully, Shaq would have sobered down with time, whether it be his pranking activity or anger management.
Also read: “I was like, what??”: Shaquille O’Neal was stunned by Dennis Rodman’s extravagant parties in LA
