Shaquille O’Neal is a man of many wonders. Be it playing basketball, managing versatile business portfolios, or being an awesome DJ to knowing slick dance moves, the big man does it all. Speaking to sportscaster, Ahmad Rashad, for NBA Rewind, Shaq revealed how he had a chance to show off his dance moves on a much bigger platform. ‘Dancing with the Stars’ is a unique reality show that features celebrities dancing to win against other participating stars. However, when Shaq had that opportunity to participate, Diesel chose to refute the offer.
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One of the most popular NBA celebrities to appear in that show recently was Iman Shumpert. The former Cavs player and LeBron James’ championship-winning teammate achieved another feat by winning the show in 2021. Partnered alongside Daniella Karagach, Shumpert showed some slick moves which even had LBJ impressed. Many NBA celebrities, including King James himself, congratulated Shumpert for being the only NBA player to win this feat.
Shaquille O’Neal reveals the real reason behind rejecting an opportunity at ‘Dancing with the Stars’
Shaquille O’Neal always had that sassiness and slick moves to qualify as a dancer. The NBA fans were all witness to his slick moves when he decided to have a dance showdown during the 2007 East All-Star practice.
Well, being such an impressive dancer comparable to a commendable standard, Shaq definitely should have raked at least an invite for the ‘Dancing with the Stars’ show. To no one’s surprise, he did. But he had a hilarious reason to reject that offer. Here’s how Shaq reasoned his rejection of a ‘DWTS’ appearance to Ahmad Rashad.
“Then they called me in the seventh season. I’m not gonna be in the seventh season. They should have called me in the first season!”
Guess the producers of DWTS had underestimated the vanity and prowess of Shaq, the dancer! Well, besides this, there is one NBA player who definitely does not regret his appearance on Dancing With the Stars.
LeBron James’ former teammate Iman Shumpert won the show with a perfect 40/40 score, making him the first-ever NBA player to do so. Guess now Shumpert has another achievement to brag about, besides the 2016 NBA championship!
Shaquille O’Neal once showed his moves to the NBA fans with an epic dance showdown
During NBA All-Star practices, you’d hardly see any player from a team challenging you unconventionally. By unconventional, we mean Shaquille O’Neal coming up to challenge for a dance showdown! Well, that’s exactly what happened during the 2007 Eastern Conference All-Star practice.
With the likes of LeBron James included, Shaquille O’Neal and King James showed their moves to the fans amidst practice. LeBron was a smooth break and hip-hop dancer while Shaq was bringing out moves right out of his pocket.
The most show-stealing moment of the showdown was the Big Man almost perfectly pulling off a twerk in the middle of the court. As already established, Shaq is a man of many wonders, some that we know of, some are yet to be found.
