Shaquille O’Neal getting in trouble with his blunt comments is nothing new. Talking about current players or ESPN employees, the Lakers legend sometimes has no filter. It was the case 8 years ago as well, and he was not alone in believing in theories. Kyrie Irving faced the major chunk and even had to apologize later, but the damage had been done. In fact, it was even monetary damage for Shaq.

In February 2017, on a podcast with Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye, Kyrie Irving posited the Earth might be flat, just days before NBA All‑Star Weekend in New Orleans. Even the commissioner of the NBA had to step in. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver publicly rebuked Irving: “He may have taken some different courses than I did…I believe the world is round”. Later, the All-Star point guard also had to apologize.

“To all the science teachers, everybody coming up to me like, `You know I’ve got to reteach my whole curriculum?’ I’m sorry.” It was in 2018 during the Forbes Under 30 summit in Boston. Irving said he’s since learned certain thoughts are best kept in “intimate conversations.” Shaq, who quipped flat Earth on his Complex GOAT Talk podcast, fared worse—his joke cost him millions. “You know what’s crazy, I said that as a joke and the internet went freaking crazy on me.” Shaq then detailed the problem.

“So when I said it and it went viral, they actually called me in, and I had to talk to the HR department. And they were talking about dropping me. I said, ‘Well, you can drop me all you want. You’re still going to have to pay me.’” In his latest episode of the podcast, the Big Aristotle made the revelation. He did not name the company but did divulge that they did so after receiving a “lot of hate mail.” The 4x NBA champion clarified his stance that he was all in jest in the first place.

Shaq’s $20m lesson in corporate conduct

The ripple from Kyrie Irving’s 2017 flat‑Earth quip washed over the NBA—yet when Shaquille O’Neal echoed the notion that same year, the fallout struck his bottom line. On The Big Podcast with Shaq (July 2017), the four‑time champion deadpanned.

“I drive from coast to coast, and this s–t is flat to me.” Moments later, he leaned into the bit: “You mean to tell me China is under us? It’s not. The world is flat.” While Irving faced little more than a rebuke from Adam Silver and a public apology, Shaq’s joke triggered a storm. Within weeks, his Complex GOAT Talk interview (June 2024) revealed the punch line’s price tag

“I said Earth was flat one time, and I lost a f—ing big deal on that,” Shaq confessed to son Myles. “They said we got like 500,000 hate mail. It was a big deal—like $20 million.” That’s when the Lakers legend revealed that joke of his caused the company to receive 500,000 complaints, and even the partnership was lost.

Although Shaq never named the sponsor, multiple outlets confirm the partnership dissolved amid half a million complaints flooding the company’s inbox. The deal’s termination centered on an outpouring of online outrage that HR feared would harm the brand’s reputation. Shaq later said he’d been summoned by corporate HR, who threatened to drop him if the uproar didn’t calm, only for Shaq to quip, “You can drop me all you want. You’re still going to have to pay me.”

In truth, Shaq’s flat‑Earth stint followed Kyrie Irving’s similar conjecture mere months earlier—and though Kyrie apologized at Forbes Under 30 in October 2018, Irving’s career skated by unscathed. By contrast, Shaq refused to regret pushing boundaries. In April 2018, he insisted his flat‑Earth claim was “the first part of the theory—I’m joking, you idiots”