Shaquille O’Neal is a $400 million worth NBA icon for whom $155,000 or $55,000 does not make a difference when it comes to valuations.
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Being 7’1 and of his stature earned Shaq nicknames, fame, and NBA stardom. However, a price that the big man had to pay for the stature was when it came to owning vehicles.
Being super-sized is one thing, being Shaq-sized is another. The former NBA champ has more often than not had to throw down the big bucks to customize vehicles for his comfort.
Also read: When Shaquille O’Neal bought furniture worth $5300 for his $16 million Miami house
West Coast Choppers and founder Jesse James have been the beneficiary of many a Shaq-sized cheque. The main man behind Jesse James: Monster Garage is one of the most famous producers of custom bikes in America and caters to a catalog of celebrities.
On Graham Bensinger’s show, James had a puzzler of a question for Shaquille O’Neal.
Why did Shaquille O’Neal tell everyone at the Century Club that his bike was worth $155,000 when it was actually worth $55,000?
Any normal celebrity would have been caught unawares on live television. After all, this was as clear as it gets with regard to having a lie revealed.
Shaquille O’Neal is as nonchalant as they come, however. Shaq dismissed any suggestion of it being a brag almost instantaneously. Jesse James’ story was not to be a Kryptonite to Superman.
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Shaq said he overvalued the bike so that James gets that recognition. O’Neal stated that he did so knowing people would go to James for the same $155,000 customization and that $100,000 difference in valuation was then James’ profit.
Big Diesel’s escape route to being caught in 4k was adventurous, to say the least. Suspicion of whether he was “capping” still remains, but we can give the gentle giant a pass. Or maybe Shaq comes out later and reveals he was lying – something that has happened in the past.
When did Shaq admit to lying just to create a narrative in the past?
Shaquille O’Neal was an upstart in a league filled with superstar centers in the 90s. David Robinson was right up there in that discussion of best centers in the league at the time.
Shaq had created a narrative of a rivalry around them with a story. O’Neal claimed that Robinson had snubbed his attempt at getting an autograph as a youngster and stated that he held that against Robinson.
This fueled up much “beef” talk around the two stars. And their notorious fight for a scoring title added to it.
However, years later, Big Diesel admitted he had gassed the story up. In his own words, “When I was in high school, he met me, he was like, “Oh, how you doin’ nice to meet you’, and I’m like, ‘Wow, what a nice man’. So when I had to play against him, I had to make up a story in my head… Cuz me, when I’m upset, I play better and I play harder.”
So, yes, there have been instances in the past when Shaq did lie – and later come clean. Only time will tell if the overvalued bike was one such instance or not.
