Shaquille O’Neal’s ‘Naked Antics’ Once Left Erik Spoelstra Feeling Helpless: “Nothing You Could Do”

NBA giant Shaquille O’Neal led the Miami Heat to a championship in 2006. The 4x champion was the most significant part of their victory. Despite the legend’s massive contributions, there was one humorous factor about him that made the then-assistant coach Erik Spoelstra feel helpless. What do you think the reason is? 

Let’s find out why Spoelstra’s helplessness came to be regarding O’Neal.

Erik Spoelstra was scared of one aspect of Shaquille O’Neal

Fans know well the larger-than-life personality’s penchant for hilarious pranks. Each one of those was different and complete trouble for the one on the receiving end. While the pranks indeed inspired laughter, his teammates and the staff preferred not to find themselves as the butt of the joke.

Erik Spoelstra is one of them. It was one weird habit of the legend to run naked around the locker room. During the Miami Heat ceremony of retiring O’Neal’s jersey no. 32, Spoelstra revealed the story. Reminiscing the old days, he said, “He would run around naked in the locker room grabbing staff members, tackling ’em to the floor,” he added, “And there was nothing you could do if you got wrapped up by him. Thankfully, it never happened to me. He would pick on the training staff and the weight-training staff.”

Despite Spoelstra never being a direct target of O’Neal’s pranks, the mere thought of it was enough for him to stay away. That was just the nature of the Big Aristotle. Even his favorite moment from his time with the Miami Heat is as peculiar as his antics. It’s definitely not the games as many of you might assume.

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Shaquille O’Neal’s favorite moment from his time with the Miami Heat

No, it’s not the championships either. During an interview, O’Neal shared his favorite Heat team memory. The incident involved an unconventional altercation with teammate Dorell Wright. However, as O’Neal recalled, he was “naked” while he was fighting with Wright. He also revealed how Udonis Haslem who was present during their fight in the practice room didn’t want to involve and stop the duo. Later, the Heat legend confirmed O’Neal’s story. 

Back in the 2004-05 season, Wright was just a rookie player. It was the same time when O’Neal was just traded to the Heat. Wright played with the Heat for the following 6 seasons. This has to be one of the most hilarious pranks by O’Neal, which his teammates found hard to dodge. Which is your favorite prank by the Lakers legend? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.

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