Prankster mastermind Shaquille O’Neal goes all out to pull the long con. When he was in Phoenix, he found a protégé and a gullible victim in Slovenian import, Goran Dragic. 15 years later, Shaq’s favorite rookie is ready to step away from the court. As he and his fans count down to his retirement, he takes it back to the days then-NBA veteran, Shaq got him to do some heavy lifting.

The Phoenix Suns had acquired the 4x champion when the Spurs traded their draft pick, Goran Dragic to the team. “I was playing for the Phoenix Suns, and there was Shaquille O’Neal who immediately took a liking to me,” The Dragon recalled. When Shaq takes a liking to a newbie, he puts them through a hazing ceremony.

Shaq made him lug a 20kg electronic keyboard on consecutive road games. Dragic, none the wiser, obediently carried the heavy instrument. “I was amazed, both by the size of the piano and by the effort I had to carry it. I thought he was a great enthusiast of that instrument,” he said, but noticed Shaq never played it. His room was often next to O’Neal’s but he never heard the sound of a piano.

At the end of his confusion, Dragic finally had the sense to ask him if he played the piano. Shaq’s answer: “Because they sold it to me broken Goran… I got cheated. And then I don’t know how to play it.”

That’s how Goran Dragic shared the dubious honor with Kobe Bryant as one of the only two rookies to withstand Shaq’s hazing.

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Dragic was last signed with the Milwaukee Bucks. He announced his retirement from the NBA on December 31. Shaq hasn’t commented on his old friend yet but he has always had fond words for The Dragon.

Shaq’s favorite rookies

A young Danny Green had to carry Shaq’s shoes and fetch him donuts as part of his rookie duties. LeBron James and others were also hazed by Shaq. But only two passed with flying colors.

“There’s only two players to ever withstand my hazing, and I had to release what I was doing to them because of their toughness: Kobe Bryant and Goran Dragic,” Shaq once said during Inside the NBA.

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Dragic has not exactly revealed post-retirement plans. But if he plans to head to TNT, he’ll likely tough out another hazing ritual by the crew there.

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