Los Angeles Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal will forever go down as one of the most dominant forces in the history of the NBA. There is just no one who could match Shaq’s combination of size and brute force while also being very nimble and quick for a man of his stature.
There have been conversations over the past few months about NBA players who could’ve played in the NFL and O’Neal would definitely be on that list. But in an appearance on the “New Heights” podcast with Jason and Travis Kelce, the Lakers legend revealed that he actually grew up playing football. Shaq would explain what ultimately caused him to turn his focus towards basketball, but feels he would’ve made a great tight end if he stuck with his first sport:
“A lot of people don’t know this that when I was coming up, football was my sport. I was football all the way and I was really good. I used to tell people [Ed] ‘Too Tall’ Jones was my father. I played nose guard on defense and I played tight end on offense and I used to bring the pain. All the kids in school they used to talk trash and this was in the days when you could rough people up and try to hurt them, and I was that guy. And then one day my junior year I scored, and a little freaking dude hit me on the side of my knee and I was out for about eight weeks. So football was my thing, and then my father came in the house one day and smacked me in the back of the head with a paper and was like, ‘you need to f—ing stop playing football and focus on basketball.’ And when I opened up the paper, Jon Koncak had just signed $15 [million] for three [years]. So I’m like, first of all who is Jon Koncak? And my dad was like ‘I got some tickets we’re gonna go watch him.’ I was living in San Antonio at the time so the Hawks were playing the Spurs and no disrespect to Jon Koncak, he was in the NBA, he was a pro, he was a good player, he made a lot of money, but I was doing the things in high school like he was doing in the pros. And I was like shit, if this dude is making 15 for three, my dream was to make $8 million for 10 years, that was my whole dream coming out. I wanted to make $8 million for 10 years and I had a little setup. I wanted a Mercedes Benz, I wanted a Jimmy Bronco like that was my whole thing. So I started playing basketball, but I used my football pain experience when I was playing basketball. Like when I turned with the elbows up, I’m trying to knock your teeth out of your mouth. People always go back to the Hack-a-Shaq and they’re like ‘he got fouled a lot,’ I never felt it. That’s because of my football prowess and my football experience. I think if I would’ve stuck with football I probably would’ve definitely made tight end. I hate when people look at me and say ‘Oh, you’d be a good offensive lineman.’ I’m not a lineman, I’m a showman.”
With his size, strength and quick feet, it’s understandable why many would push Shaq towards the offensive lineman category. But as he said, he is a showman and the legendary Lakers big is far too much of a character to be stuck in the trenches.
It is wild to imagine how O’Neal would’ve fared in the NFL as a supersized tight end, but considering the career he had and the money he made, he clearly made the right decision in turning to basketball.
Shaquille O’Neal recalls pushing Kobe Bryant’ buttons on Lakers
Of course, Shaquille O’Neal would team with Kobe Bryant to form one of the greatest duos in NBA history, winning three straight NBA Championships with the Lakers from 2000-02. But the two also had a famous feud, though Shaq continues to insist it was never personal and all about business.
The big man recently spoke on how he would purposely push Kobe’s buttons, by telling the young guard that the Lakers were O’Neal’s team and he needed to fall in line. But Shaq knew this would anger Kobe and push him to try and outdo him, and it ultimately worked as the two were extremely successful together.
