Shaquille O’Neal Reminisces About Asking Denzel Washington to Recreate Iconic ‘Training Day’ Line

Across his illustrious career, Denzel Washington has only won two Academy Awards. The first came in 1990 when he won Best Supporting Actor. But a decade later, Denzel was no longer supporting cast material, and he won his only Best Actor award for portraying Alonzo Harris in ‘Training Day’. The movie was so iconic that even NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal became a fan-boy.

Four years ago, when Washington was promoting his new action thriller, ‘The Equalizer 2’, Big Diesel felt nostalgic and asked Denzel to deliver his dramatic monolog from the climax of ‘Training Day’.

O’Neal humbly asked the actor, “Denzel, before you leave, can you hit us off with that King Kong line?” As a professional, Washington immediately got into character and began his iconic delivery.

Then Denzel remembered that he was on national TV and questioned, “You can’t curse on it, can you?” Even though he couldn’t deliver the line with all its profanities, the actor quickly revamped the content to suit the NBA talk show.

“You’ll be playing basketball in Pelican Bay when I get-,” he shouted, in Alonzo Harris fashion. “You think you can do this to me? Shaq, you think you can do this to me?” Denzel Washington exclaimed, leaving the TNT crew in splits.

Fans and Shaq were truly blessed to witness that performance live. Though, it’s likely that Denzel wouldn’t have put on the same show if it wasn’t a three-time Lakers champion asking.

Denzel Washington is a Lakers fan for life

The 69-year-old has reportedly been a Lakers season-ticket holder since the Showtime era. Even in the 2020s, Denzel Washington has remained a staunch supporter of the Purple and Gold.

“When he [Denzel] first heard that LeBron James is officially a Laker, the first thing he did was call his accountant and make sure he had not given up his courtside seats to the Lakers. Because he knew those tickets were gonna be sky-high, and he knew he wanted to be a witness to the rebuilding of the Lakers,” reported Emmy-winning journalist Kelley L. Carter in 2018.

In 2024, Denzel Washington took an even more hands-on approach with his favorite team. In the lead-up to Kobe Bryant’s statue unveiling, Denzel reunited with ‘Training Day’ director, Antoine Fuqua, to create a video about the Black Mamba’s 81-point game.

In fact, in Denzel’s 1998 sports drama, ‘He Got Game’, Kobe Bryant was the initial choice to portray Jesus Shuttlesworth. However, the Black Mamba instead chose to spend that summer honing his craft and participating in intense workouts. Nonetheless, Kobe’s teammate Shaq made a cameo in the film.