Shaquille O’Neal Still Wishes Lil Wayne Performed at Super Bowl LIX Half Time Show

This year’s Super Bowl was played at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana between the Eagles and the Chiefs. As the tradition goes, there was a lot of excitement about the Halftime show. However, the preparations started on the wrong foot when Lil Wayne was snubbed and the gig was handed to Kendrick Lamar. Shaquille O’Neal wasn’t happy with the decision.

Even a day before the Super Bowl, Shaq was asked for his take on Lamar taking the stage at the Halftime show. The big fella gave an honest response and said that even though he’s excited to see the Compton rapper, he’d have preferred seeing hip-hop legends like Wayne or Master P.

He said, “I still would’ve loved to see some Lil Wayne, some Master P. Just seven minutes. Just one song and get ’em out.”

Similar to millions of fans around the world, Shaq’s dream was crushed. There was a genuine disappointment among fans when the Halftime show was announced. The city of New Orleans is well-known around the world as the home of Lil Wayne, one of the greatest rappers of all time.

Prior to the announcement, it was believed that he’d be the one to perform on the biggest stage in the country. During an interview with Taylor Rooks in December 2023, Wayne had said that performing at the Super Bowl would be at the top of his wish list. Weezy was so confident that he had “earned” the right to be there that he laid out the entire plan for a show during the interview.

But the hip-hop legend was disrespected by the selection committee. When he found out about the snub, Wayne went on Instagram Live to express his disappointment. He said, “That hurt. Hurt a lot…I blame myself for not being mentally prepared for a letdown.”

His disappointment was understandable because no one has a bigger imprint on the New Orleans hip-hop scene than Lil Wayne.

Despite that, fans decided to give Lamar a chance because he has had a great run over the last year. However, a lot of fans thought, his performance at the Super Bowl was weak. Within minutes of its conclusion, it was dubbed as “The worst Halftime show ever.” Daily Mail Online wrote, “Kendrick Lamar slammed for ‘worst halftime show ever’ during Super Bowl 2025 performance.”

It seems to be a majority opinion as of now that Lamar’s Halftime show was “trash.” Many fans are unhappy with his performance as the expectations were pretty high from one of the best rappers of his generation. However, there are also some who loved what he did in New Orleans. So, we will leave it up to the fans to decide whether it was a snooze fest or a hit show.

Shaquille O’Neal suggested how Lil Wayne could’ve upstaged Kendrick Lamar

During a conversation with fellow LSU Tiger alum Leonard Fournette on The Big Podcast, Shaq asked a hypothetical question. He asked, “I have a hypothetical question, because you know I’m a businessman … let’s just say the Super Bowl halftime show was from 12 to 1 — should Lil Wayne do a concert in New Orleans at the same time and televise it?”

Fournette was immediately onboard and said that if Wayne did that, he’d “sell out.” Shaq echoed the same sentiment and said, “I would do that.” The big fella believed that since the people of New Orleans were robbed of the opportunity to see their biggest icon on stage, they’d have a choice in this scenario.

Unfortunately, “The Heart of New Orleans” didn’t do any such thing.