feature-image

Imago

feature-image

Imago

Even NBA athletes can turn fanboys for certain mainstream celebrities. While he’s a bona fide celebrity himself now, Shaquille O’Neal remains in awe of some all-time legends. During his fundraising gala, the big man had a ton of stars lined up to perform. As a result, the entire night became a magical affair that even had the 7-footer mesmerized.

Watch What’s Trending Now!

While John Legend had him singing along backstage, another one literally made him sing on stage. All-in-all, a truly epic night came to be thanks to the generosity of the Los Angeles Lakers legend.

ADVERTISEMENT

Shaquille O’Neal returns to his singing form

The Shaq Foundation has been a major source of the 4-time Champion staying in touch with his philanthropic ways. One of their biggest yearly traditions is The Event, an annual fundraising gala, now in its third year. This time around, the star-studded lineup had a host of major names in attendance. Apart from the aforementioned John, DJ Pee Wee, Jennifer Hudson, and others were ready to wow the audiences that had already been privy to a comedy set by John McHale.

Two such audience members, Paki Bomani and Daryl Phillips, took to posting highlights from the extravagant affair. However, it was Shaquille O’Neal singing his heart out that caught everyone’s attention.

ADVERTISEMENT

article-image

Getty

DJ Pee Wee is a moniker of Anderson .Paak. The 37-year-old made sure to have DJ Diesel serenade the audience with his vocal talents.

ADVERTISEMENT

Watch This Story: Humbling Damian Lillard With GOAT Crown, Shaquille O’Neal Defends Alter-Ego Career With 1 Verdict

ADVERTISEMENT

In a splitting image of Diesel, the event was a perfect mix of music and generosity. Even O’Neal made a $70,000 contribution towards the building of a facility in Las Vegas.

ADVERTISEMENT

But, there was another name ready to wow the crowd. One, that got a special mention from the former Miami Heat champion.

Tonight,?Shaq’s inner fanboy comes to life

Even though backstage, Shaq couldn’t help but post a video of the, um,?legendary?John Legend in action.

ADVERTISEMENT

As the entire crowd was spellbound, the former MVP was among those entranced by Legend’s talents. While the first Black EGOT winner sang the verses to?Tonight,?Shaq was capturing the entire thing.

Then, the big man took it a step further, flipping the camera around and showing himself mouthing off the lyrics in sync. All-in-all, the entire event was a rousing success, and was able to achieve everything it set out for.

ADVERTISEMENT

Read More: Despite His Plea for POTUS Replacement, Stephen A. Smith Shuts Down Shaquille O?Neal?s Dream With a Pinching Reminder

Share this with a friend:

Link Copied!

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Written by

author-image

Priyanshu

827 Articles

Priyanshu is an NBA beat Writer at EssentiallySports, with a healthy command over the technical aspects of the sport. Priyanshu has creatively covered the often entertaining interactions between legends Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley along with in-depth analysis of the games. He was at the forefront of the 2023 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame ceremony, covering each and every aspect of the historic night in Springfield, Massachusetts. Furthermore, his article on Shaq and the UFC garnered close to a million pageviews. Moving away from the world of sports, Priyanshu is also an avid gamer, who can display other-worldly skills on NBA 2K.

Know more

Edited by

editor-image

Aakash Nair

ADVERTISEMENT