48 years into the comedy business, George Wallace just busted himself as the biggest liar. And he gleefully took Shaq down with him. Kidding! We know Big Diesel is a full-time Big Liar too. Shaquille O’Neal’s favorite comedian arrived on The Big Podcast to casually reveal his hobby of fibbing. It’s an activity he shares with the NBA legend too. Both have different reasons for making up stuff. Wallace uses it in his standup material. O’Neal has been lying since he was an NBA player for all kinds of reasons.

The comedy dinosaur, Wallace said on The Big Podcast he had been dreaming of the standup stage since he was six. He’s grateful to have a career out of it because “All I do is lie.” You can’t disagree with Wallace that everyone lies – from a little white lie here and there to generational lies like Santa Claus – and he loves that he gets paid for it. He’s so skilled, he had O’Neal convinced he was 80 and not 72 the entire episode. But Shaq has a little problem with his exposure.

“I don’t believe after 48 years you just gave up our secret.” Yes, Shaq said ‘our.’ Because. “I’m the same way.” Some of the famous lies the Lakers legend has owned up to include made-up feuds with Patrick Ewing and David Robinson. A social media-savvy Diesel can post anything without context and create a frenzy. “I just say stuff sometime and people go wall through wall crazy with it.” 

In the same episode, O’Neal explained his reachability that can make one fib viral. He reposts memes by others and his 34 million followers make it viral, making it think Shaq’s dissing someone. In most recent history, he seemingly dissed Rudy Gobert’s performance at France’s Olympics opener. O’Neal denied any claim that he took shots at the reigning DPOY and said it was simple entertainment.

There are very purposeful PR cons Shaq has pulled though, with inspiration from the most unlikely place.

Shaquille O’Neal uses lies as a marketing tool

The WWE diehard found out very early into his rookie NBA career that Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant don’t throw chairs and bodyslam people on the regular. Through his friendships with Hogan and other wrestlers, he discovered the concept of ‘kayfabe’ and what an effective marketing device it is. It wasn’t long before he adapted it for himself.

The biggest example was Shaq’s seemingly one-sided feud with David Robinson. For years, he made it his mission to overthrow the veteran center who apparently denied him an autograph. For years, the media played this storyline only for Shaq to later admit he lied. He made up a fake feud with the Spurs legend for hype and they were reasonably good friends behind the scenes.

His lies used to give the Big Aristotle a competitive image. These days he tries to goad active players with a fib or two. How would you rate Shaq’s knack for lying?