Michael Phelps Is Surprised Shaquille O’Neal Made Even One 3-Pointer in His NBA Career: “Those Free Throws Looked Gross”

For a scorer as dominant as he was, one would assume people would remember Shaquille O’Neal for his backboard-breaking dunks. However, 23-time Olympic Gold medalist Michael Phelps, remembers the Big Diesel’s streaky shooting as much as he remembers his posters.

TNT’s ‘The Match: Superstars’ brought Phelps and Mark Wahlberg together. The celebrity team is in West Palm Beach this week, where they answered a few Sports Trivia questions.

During the quickfire round, they were asked a question about Shaq. “True or False: Shaquille O’Neal made 1 3-pointer in his NBA Career.” Wahlberg was quick to the buzzer, confirming “That’s true.” That took Phelps by surprise.

“I would’ve said false,” the most decorated Olympian of all time said. “Those free throws looked gross.”

Fans are well aware of O’Neal’s abysmal free-throw shooting. For his career, the four-time champion shot just 52.7% from the charity stripe. On the other hand, Shaq’s one career three-point make in 19 seasons puts his percentage at 4.5% from three-point range.

To Shaq’s credit, he only attempted 22 three-pointers during his career and the one he made was a one-handed buzzer-beater in 1995-96. Phelps was just 11 years old at the time so it’s fair that he missed the occasion. However, he did add “I love you though, homie,” to not tick off Big Diesel.

Wahlberg praised O’Neal and called him a ‘beast’ for his ruthless displays in the paint. “His junk in your face? Threw you on the ground. He was a beast.” 

The celebrity duo are set to take on Blake Griffin and comedian Nate Bargatze this Thursday and Friday night.

‘The Match: Superstars’ will also feature Charles Barkley, Ken Griffey Jr., and Wayne Gretzky taking to the green. Hopefully, their putts will see a higher success rate than Shaq’s free throws.

Shaquille O’Neal ignores his numbers, dubs himself ‘Black Steph Curry’ often

Though it’s often in jest, O’Neal has made headlines in recent years for dubbing himself the ‘Black Stephen Curry’. The 7-footer is often seen letting it fly from deep at local gyms and he’s certainly making more than 1 out of 22 attempts.

Hilariously, his comparison to the Chef would even force Sonya Curry to step in and defend her son. In June of 2023, O’Neal was performing as DJ Diesel when a fan held up a mini rim in the front row. The 2000 NBA MVP pulled out a small orange ball and drained the shot from behind his DJ console.

He later posted the video on Instagram, writing “I told y’all I’m the black Steph Curry”. Steph’s mom would chime in the comments section, “Hold up…my son is Black…how about Dark skinned Steph!!!

Perhaps if Shaq returned to a basketball league like the BIG3, we could actually test out whether his shooting has improved since his retirement.