Shaquille O'Neal has set the record straight following allegations he defecated in a fellow player's shoe as a prank during his playing days.
Yes, you read that right. Shaq might be one of the most loved characters to have ever played in the NBA but he has also been accused of some truly bizarre behaviour behind the scenes.
Back in 2022, fellow NBA Hall of Famer Gary Payton claimed that O'Neal used to dump buckets of his own human waste over rookies' heads at the Miami Heat as part of some twisted initiation to the team.
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"We used to always play jokes," said Payton, who played alongside Shaq when the Heat won the NBA championship in 2006.
"Shaq is a jokester. So if one of the rookies would be in the stall, he would take a bucket and use the bathroom in it for about a week. And then all of a sudden, he would pour it on them. So we started being jokesters."
It's not the only time Shaq has been accused of pulling off a disgusting prank involving his own waste. In 2022, current Los Angeles Clippers coach and former Los Angeles Lakers teammate Ty Lue claimed Shaq once defecated in Devean George's shoe before a game.
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"One day, Devean George was supposed to get the donuts," Lue said on the Knuckleheads podcast.
"He didn't do it. Shaq said, 'I'm going to get you.' So we're getting ready for a game... Shaq goes in the bathroom, takes (George's) shoe in there, he s***s in his shoe."
Lue once again told the same story on the Draymond Green Show on Wednesday, forcing Shaq to issue an official response.
"I most certainly did not @draymondshow @iambarondavis don't listen to him this is what they call. #allegedly," O'Neal wrote on Instagram.
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"@bigpidcastwithshaq #thedraymondshow can't believe he said that shhhhhhhh."
It appears as though Shaq could be telling the truth, with George himself previously denying the shoe story.
"Hell no, that's a lie, that's cap and I know T Lue started that or someone said T Lue said that," George told TMZ.
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"That never happened. I think he did that to someone in Orlando. I don't remember the dude’s name, but he did that in Orlando. But he never took a s**t in my shoes... he did some pranks but he never sh****d in nobody shoes or mine."
When asked if he'd ever threatened to pull the prank on him, George added: "Yeah, we'd have to fight. I'd just get beat up. You know? If he sh****d in my shoes, then it is what it is.
"If somebody s**t in my shoes, you just gonna have to whoop my ass."
Topics: Shaquille ONeal, NBA, Basketball
Rory O'Callaghan