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Shaquille O’Neal, Notorious for Choking a Teammate, Insulted Naked Star’s “Fat A**” In Front of the Locker Room

Published 07/09/2022, 12:30 PM EDT

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Shaquille O’Neal was one of the most fun-loving teammates to be around in the NBA. Not that any of us have had the chance to experience that, but all the stories about his playing days suggest what kind of guy he was. Moreover, his personality has not changed one bit. In every appearance on shows, movies, podcasts, or the Inside the NBA show, Shaq is absolutely hilarious.

Shaq always played pranks and messed with his teammates. He was one of the characters to be around and, as a matter of fact, he still is. Whenever former players or teammates talk about Shaq, they always have some hilarious story about him. He was one of the most dominant forces in NBA history on that court. But off of it, he was one of the most fun.

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Grant Hill was Shaq’s teammate when he was in Phoenix Suns for two years through the seasons 2007-08, and 2008-09. And he had an unbelievably hilarious incident to narrate which he had witnessed in the locker room with Shaq.

WATCH THIS STORY: 5 surprising things owned by Shaq.

He shared, “One time man, Shaq… it’s so bad I can’t repeat it bad. Man, we were in the showers after practice and he goes to J Rich [Jason Richardson], ‘J Rich you got a fat a** man’. So I’m like, what does J Rich do man.” All three burst into laughter during the podcast because of how it was normal for Shaq to say something like this and be absolutely hilarious about it.

Throwback to the time Shaquille O’Neal put another Suns teammate in a sleeper hold

This encounter with Jason Richardson was not the only incident during Shaq’s time in Phoenix, which showed his fun side. Well now, obviously, it is fun and maybe for Shaq, it was then as well. But surely it must have not been fun for Gordan Giricek to be knocked out laying on the ground, choked by Shaq’s sleeper hold.

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Once again, it was Grant Hill to narrate the incident after Shaq once blatantly asked him humorously. Hill said, “Giricek would kind of talk trash to Shaq. And so one day Shaq was like, ‘You know what, I’ll let this guy know who I am.’ It was right before a big game in Phoenix against Dallas. We have our team meeting. The meeting ends, I go use the restroom, I come out. Giricek’s laid out on the floor.”

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“And I’m like, ‘Come on Shaq! We’re trying to win!’ But it was typical Shaq. Thankfully, Giricek, nothing serious happened. Thankfully he’s living to be able to talk about it. But Shaq was always entertaining and always knocking people out, I suppose.”

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WATCH: A Hilarious Duet Between Shaquille O’Neal and Kevin Garnett That Would Make Every Celtics Fan Nostalgic

The Croatian international was a good shooter, but he seldom passed the ball inside to Shaq. And Shaq, being the guy who dominated the paint often saw Giricek look Shaq off and take a shot. This was the reason they used to argue a lot and Giricek even trash-talked with Shaquille O’Neal. And Shaq did what he did. Obviously now he must remember it and laugh about it all, but it obviously must’ve not been pleasant then. But that’s Shaq for you.

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Written by:

Chaitanya Sharma

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Chaitanya is an NBA writer at EssentiallySports. He completed his engineering from SRM University. Having determined an interest in football and basketball, he was inclined towards having a job in the sports industry.
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Edited by:

Arunaditya Aima