What does it take to be a great impressionist? Is it about mimicking the voice, or is there more to it, like copying the accent? According to comic Aries Spears, it’s about music. This is why he is great at doing impressions of NBA legends like Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley.
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Spears has been mimicking Shaq for more than a few years now, and he has only gotten better with time, much to Shaq’s delight. Spears’ mother was a jazz blues singer, and he credits her for his understanding of the cadence of an individual’s auditory personality.
“Every voice has a note,” he said. “People who can sing, they have an ear for tone, inflection, rhythm, cadence. Everybody is a note. They know a note. Somebody who can’t sing, if they try to sing, some body who can’t sing goes, ‘You’re off key. So it’s about being on key.” He then went on to explain the science behind Shaq’s voice.
“With Shaq … Shaq is breathy and bass,” he began. Doing a live impression of the Miami Heat legend, Aries said, “Hey [Robert Griffin III], if you talk s*** about Angel Reese, I will punch you in the face. I am talking about my sister … I don’t usually do this, but I will punch you in the face.”
Spears didn’t stop here. He quickly moved on to Barkley and explained how the former Sixers star’s note was vastly different. “Let me tell you something … Kobe Bryant … LeBron James is the greatest athlete. I think it’s very interesting,” he added, with focus on the words athlete and interesting.
A fan of the Sopranos television show, Spears quickly moved on to one of the the best acts in his bag of tricks and did a little James Gandolfini for everyone to enjoy. While his Kobe and Tony Soprano impressions were cool, it was the choice of words he went with for Shaq that made it stand apart.
Spears’ Shaq bit was in reference to O’Neal’s Off The Record podcast warning to former NFL quarterback, Robert Griffin III, who has been piling on the media criticism of Reese and even reposted a racist edit of the cover of NBA 2K26 featuring Reese.
Shaq is very close to Reese and feels protective of her, so he sent Griffin a stern message: “RG III, tweet another monkey post about my girl Angel Reese and I’m gonna punch you in your f***** face. K. It’s enough.”
Give it a listen, and you’ll hear just how “breathy and bassy” Shaq’s voice is, as Spears describes it. Perhaps that’s why Big Diesel is a little difficult to understand at times.
