What happens when an NBA legend challenges the swimming legend, Michael Phelps, for a race in the pool? Well, that clearly looks like a one-sided battle. However, the NBA legend is none other than Shaquille O’ Neal, and he won’t stop at anything but victory. Hence, the 7.1 ft. Shaq trained like a ninja to defeat the most decorated Olympian. He further debunked all the misconceptions people might have about him in water due to his heavy and tall structure.

Shaquille O’Neal and Michael Phelps are two of the most prominent names in sports history. Their stardom goes beyond the sports they played. Hence, when the Lakers legend challenged Phelps to a swimming competition on his show, Shaq vs., it brought great joy and entertainment for every sports fan around the world.

Shaquille O’Neal trained like a ninja to defeat Michael Phelps

Before the race, the four-time NBA champion, revealed, “Mike Clark and I wanted to design a specific workout for us battle against Michael Phelps. A lot of people expect me to when I jump in water (imitate water sounds) Belly Flutter. I don’t do that. I get into the water stealthy ninja style and just turn around like this. You just fall back in the water (the legend just falls off from the chair).”

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While everybody was expecting a one-sided battle, Shaq proved everyone wrong. Perhaps the pre-race ninja training was actually effective, as the NBA legend could manage a final score of 2-1 against the world’s best swimmer.

The battle between Shaq and Phelps

They chose the winner between these two legends based on the best of three races. In the first freestyle race, Shaq had to cover 25 yards, whereas Phelps covered 50 yards with a 5-second head start.

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Race two was a 200-yard medley relay event for which Shaq had 3 female Olympic swimmers on his team while Phelps was alone. Finally, race three was a freestyle event in which the NBA legend had to cover 50-yards, and the swimming legend had to cover 75-yards.

In the end, Michael Phelps lived up to his name and defeated the Lakers legend with a 2-1 score. However, given that Shaq is a former basketball player, his performance in the pool was more than impressive.

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