Shaquille O’Neal Recalls Being Called “Gorilla” by Disrespectful Crowd in Passionate Advice to Kyrie Irving

Published 04/22/2022, 9:00 PM EDT

Hate is something almost every sports person has received. It is near impossible to not trigger some fans while playing in front of the millions of eyes focused on the athlete. The latest star to get in the news for this issue is Kyrie Irving.

During the first-round matchup against the Boston Celtics, the Brooklyn Nets star responded to the hate from the crowd. He reacted with a flick of the finger that has caused major headlines around the world.

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An athlete who knows all about getting hate is Shaquille O’Neal. The 4 time NBA champion has talked about the crowd going hostile against him in multiple instances.

Talking on The Big Podcast with Shaq, he revealed one of the worst crowds he has ever faced. He recalled being called a ‘gorilla’ by the crowd during one of his college games. However, he also revealed how he found it funny and dealt with it.

Shaquille O’Neal shares his story after the Kyrie Irving incident

The NBA playoffs mean intense matches and hostile crowds. It was the same for the Brooklyn Nets when they faced the Boston Celtics in the iconic TD Garden.

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Safe to say, the crowd was in no mood to entertain the former Boston Celtics star Kyrie Irving. The crowd booed him all game, and it triggered a response from him during the match and in the press conference.

Talking about the incident, Kyrie said, “I don’t want to attack every Boston fan, but when people start yelling p—y, b—h and f–k you and all that, there is only so much you can take as a competitor.”

This has caused major headlines across the world with fans and analysts giving their opinions. One of them is the 4 time NBA champion, Shaquille O’Neal.

Bringing up this issue in The Big Podcast with Shaq, he recalled a similar incident during his college days. Apparently, during a college game, the crowd called him a gorilla.

Shaq said, “One time I was playing against them and Chris Jackson took the faster shot. Who’s your dad? Who’s your dad? When I go and win means Danny Robbins go to the free-throw line.“

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He added, “One side would go, McGilla, the other side would go gorilla and the whole crowd would go ‘Ooh Ooh’. I mean, I thought it was funny but now don’t worry about that.”

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After the Kyrie Irving incident, the league fined him a whopping $50,000 for his behavior during the match. Currently, the Celtics lead the 7-game series 2-0.

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Written by:

Abhinava is an NBA writer for EssentiallySports. He is currently pursuing his Bachelor's in Journalism and Mass Communication. Abhinava has been following NBA for the past 6 years and is a huge fan of the Golden State Warriors and Stephen Curry.

Edited by:

Ajinkya Aswale

Shaquille O’Neal Recalls Being Called “Gorilla” by Disrespectful Crowd in Passionate Advice to Kyrie Irving

Shaquille O’Neal shares his story after the Kyrie Irving incident

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