It’s tough to transcend the sport that made you who your are. Only a select few have does so. Shaquille O’Neal did just that. The Diesel transformed his dominant performances on the court, matched them with his charming personality, and became a pop culture icon. Along with ball, he starred in movies, became a DJ, wrestled for WWE and AEW, and continues to entertain audiences to this day on Inside the NBA. There is only one Shaq. There will only ever be one Shaq.
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But even the big guy needed to, at times, unplug, especially when he was still in the NBA. The stresses of being a superstar and having to carry the weight of a team’s offense must have been anxiety-inducing. O’Neal had his ways of calming down though. He turned to Adam Sandler movies. And no one was bigger in the early 2000s, and still very relevant today, than Adam Sandler.
Shaq and Sandler know each other well. The Diesel appeared in Jack & Jill, Grown Ups 2, Blended, and Hubie Halloween, all made under the famed comedian’s production company, Happy Madison. He spoke about their relationship, and how he ended up in these films, on the latest edition of his Big Podcast.
“Music and movies kept me out of the, ‘You missed 30 free throws etc. etc,’ I would spend 20 hours worrying about that, but I needed time to recharge. So I got to laugh. Only way to recharge is laugh or hear something I like,” stated Shaq. It’s a good way to wind down. Stressed about a crucial Game 5? Throw on Happy Gilmore or Big Daddy and your frown will get turned upside down.
It was then that the four-time NBA champ spilled the tea. “Adam Sandler, he’s still hot, but he was hot at the time. I’d always say, ‘Hey man, you got to put me in a movie.’ And he was smart. ‘Win me a championship big fella.’ He’d always say that. So then after the first championship, ‘Hey man put me in a movie.’ ‘Win another championship big fella.’ He would always say that.”
Sandler’s love of basketball is well-documented. He starred in the famed Safdie Brothers flick Uncut Gems, where he plays a gambling addict who loves ball, specifically Kevin Garnett, who co-starred with Sandler as himself. Sandler later made Hustle for Netflix, a basketball-themed movie centered around Juancho Hernangómez that featured cameos from the likes of Anthony Edwards and Luka Doncic.
“So then after I retired, my guy Danny called me and said, ‘Hey man. Adam Sandler said he would always tell you he would put you in his movies. He’s got four movies for you.’ So he put me in movies back-to-back,” added O’Neal. Shaq might not have been inn any Sandler classics, but imagine how much fun he had on set with the Sandman and the rest of the Happy Madison goons.
And that’s the type of atmosphere Shaq probably wanted. Something silly, where he gets to flex his silliness for a paycheck. It’s common knowledge that the Hall of Famer is a jokester and a prankster. There is no better combination for him than starring in a movie with one of the biggest comedy draws of all time.
