A career-high outing is great and all but what about talking to the Shaquille O’Neal? GG Jackson was overwhelmed to have the voice of Big Diesel in his ear congratulating him on his best game. His reaction to it was priceless. It not only had the folks in Inside the NBA cooing over the starstruck young player, it made the fans watching awe at him too.

Jackson was the 45th pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. He was the only 18-year-old in the league when the season tipped off. A month into his 19th year on earth, he’s accomplished something King James did and earned Shaq’s admiration.

Shaquille O’Neal makes his fan’s day

The now-19-year-old Gregory “GG” Jackson II scored a career-high 23 points, 6 rebounds and 1 assist in 29 minutes, helping the Grizzlies get a 116-107 win over the Warriors who had Draymond Green in the lineup today. Inside the NBA caught up with Jackson and had high praise for him. When it was Shaq’s turn, like any teen meeting his hero as Jackson’s eyes went wide in joy.

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The youngest player in the entire league celebrated his 19th birthday on December 17. He’s the second-youngest player in NBA history to record back-to-back 20+ point games. LeBron James was younger when he made that record in the 2003-04 season.

After today, he’ll be on the TNT analysts’ radar for good reasons. Shaquille O’Neal summarized everyone’s sentiment after watching Jackson play. “GG, Shaq here. I don’t have any questions, I just want to say congratulations, young fella. You played a hell of a game, and if people didn’t know who you were, they do now. I’m so proud of you.”

Besides expressing it in his adorable reactions, Gregory Jackson managed to say how much it was an honor to have O’Neal speaking to him.Even though injuries sidelined important players like Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, Marcus Smart, and more, the Grizzlies are going hard in player development with youngsters like GG. The veterans on the Warriors side couldn’t keep up with the offensive strength. Besides his immense potential, Jackson won over fans being a pure Shaq fan.

GG Jackson’s pureness brings smiles

Jackson showed his age when he was talking to one of his heroes. He gave fans a warm feeling with his sincerity after a fierce game.

Ernie Johnson loved that starstruck reaction Shaq elicited. He did what everyone wished and replayed Jackson’s cute expressiveness when he realized Shaq is talking to him.

Jackson would’ve been around three years old by the time the giant was a 4x champion. The Big Aristotle has that effect on people though and GG is not immune to it.

It wasn’t just O’Neal. Jackson was awestruck by Charles Barkley who was hyped for him too.

Of course, the cinematic comparisons were inevitable. Besides Will Farrel meeting Santa Claus, there are so many parallels floating around to sum up GG the fanboy.

We’re already halfway into January, but GG Jackson and Shaq have put some much-needed wholesome feels into 2024.

The GG effect is palpable. Fans now hope that he has more record-worthy moments this season and meets his heroes. Fingers crossed, he see Shaq in person soon.

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