Shaquille O’Neal is one of the best centers to ever grace a basketball court. In his prime with the Lakers, he was the most dominant force in the league and, as he’ll tell you (and properly so), he was the MDE — Most Dominant Ever.
However, Father Time comes for us all, and even when you put in the work to get in pretty good shape generally, that’s a very different thing than being in playing shape. Shaq learned that the hard way recently, as he got inspired by a visit from Mario Chalmers on his podcast to try and get to the point where he could get on the court in the BIG3. However, a trip to LA Fitness revealed the cold, hard truth about where the 52-year-old Hall of Famer’s game is at, as he explained recently to Ice Cube on The Big Podcast.
“Believe it or not, I tried to get in the gym and…I ain’t got it no more, dog. My sh*t is gone,” Shaq said. “Like, I’ve been eating right and running and jumping. I tried to play in the LA Fitness, I looked like the worst big man ever, dog. I ain’t got it. So I wouldn’t come out there and embarrass your league, and I definitely wouldn’t come out there and embarrass myself. So, maybe next year.”
I desperately want to know what it was like being in whatever LA Fitness gym this was when Shaq rolled up, hopped in a game, and played terribly. Imagine being a normal guy, getting a pickup run in, and you get put on Shaq’s team and think this is going to be the greatest day of your life only for Shaq to be out there tossing up little hook shot bricks. That’s still a great story, but for different reasons. In any case, Shaq’s going to need more time before he makes any BIG3 guest appearances.