NBA legend-turned-analyst and unquestionable American treasure Shaquille O’Neal was recently in Honolulu, Hawaii, for a DJing gig at The Republik. During his downtime, he relaxed at the pool, but that didn’t stop him from giving a group of kids a moment of a lifetime.
A video uploaded to TikTok by Daniel Chavez shows the giant horsing around with some kids at the hotel pool. Can you imagine being a 4-foot-tall kid and staring up at the 7’1”, 325-pound Lakers legend? It must have been like meeting a god from Mount Olympus.
But Shaq was humble with the kids and pretended to be having a heart attack in the pool and acted like he was drowning. A group of about seven kids came to the rescue and saved the four-time NBA champion.
@incatico Shaq is such a cool guy tho #shaq #hawaii
@incatico The kids brought back Shaq! 😂 #shaq #hawaii
In a follow-up video, Chavez said he was hesitant to film the wholesome scene. “Part of me was like, hmm, should I film this?” he said. “Or, number 2, should I just enjoy the moment? Number 3, I’m like, he’s relaxing, he’s on vacation, why am I gonna bother this guy’s privacy? But the journalist in me said, ‘No. No, this guy’s being real right now. He’s being such a cool guy. I’m sure people would love to see this side of him.’”
However, in the end, the outpouring of love and good vibes that the video received on TikTok made Chavez feel like he made the right decision.
“Shaq loves kids so much it’s so wholesome,” Celestial Sylvia wrote.
“Shaq is a national treasure and must be protected at all costs,” Kyle Caldwell added.