Shaquille O’Neal is impossible to miss. The 7-foot-1 behemoth—known for balling on teams like the Los Angeles Lakers and Orlando Magic, speaking his piece on TNT’s Inside The NBA and rapping/DJing under the name Shaq Diesel—can be seen and heard the second he stomps into a room. (His shoe size is 23, FYI.) During his set at Bud Light’s House of Whatever in Arizona (Jan. 30), the Superman shirt-clad spin master had folks chucking bottles of beer in the air and dancing like this guy. After running through classic hip-hop hits and Young Thug on-stage, Shaq spoke with VIBE at the CityScape Hotel, saying the campaign’s theme of living life on a whim is daily routine. “I live my life being crazy,” he said. “The weirdest thing I did on a whim is I went on the Sling Shot ride in Orlando ten times in a row.”
While he claims his reaction was nothing like DMX’s scream fest, Shaq admits he has yet to kick off one highflying feat from his bucket list. “I want to skydive but I’m the type that once I think it’s bad, I don’t do it. Sort of like [the movie Final Destination].” He recalled, “I go to the skydiving school class and the lady was like ‘The [maximum] weight is 300 pounds.’ Then I thought maybe I could get the lady to sew two things together but skydiving’s the only thing I haven’t done.” (A tweet in his archives shows he attempted in 2009.)
Im going skydiving,shhhh, wish me luck
— SHAQ (@SHAQ) February 1, 2009
One accomplishment etched into his professional résumé, though, is rapping. After sharing MP3 space with the likes of Nas, Jay Z and Notorious B.I.G., the hardwood beast can’t name his all-time favorite MC. Instead, he offers a roster of them. “Just like in sports, it’s hard to say one. Being a basketball player, I like to put them in basketball terms,” he said. “For point guard, you got Lil’ Weezy. Shooting guard, I gotta go with Jay Z. And as a center, it’s Biggie. I got a white guy in my line-up by the name of Eminem and then my forward is Tupac. He’s small but he’s powerful.” While Shaq isn’t shy to call out the Seattle Seahawks for their losing Super Bowl performance, he still has others’ best interests at heart. “I could never say [which rapper’s] the best ’cause I don’t want any of those guys to be offended.”—Adelle Platon (@adelleplaton) Photo Credit: VIBE/ Jason Del Pilar