Shaquille O’Neal may be a legend, but don’t call him a “celebrity.”
Speaking exclusively to Page Six in a new interview, the Los Angeles Lakers legend explained why he considers himself a “normal person” and doesn’t want to be put in “that category.”
O’Neill, 54, said: “French people, excuse me, but celebrities are outrageous people,” adding that she finds them “weird, disrespectful and disgusting.”
O’Neal (aka Shaq) may not consider himself an A-lister, but he’s certainly a household name.
After retiring from the NBA in 2011 after 19 seasons in the NBA, the basketball MVP has done everything from branching out into music to hosting star-studded Super Bowl events to sports analysis on “Inside the NBA.”
What is his latest project? He will serve as executive producer on an all-new true crime series titled “Game Day Murders.”
“I’ve been both an athlete and a true crime criminal, and finally, we’re going to combine the two,” Shaq, a self-proclaimed “true crime junkie,” exclusively told Page Six. “(I like it) because everyone has that detective.”
Shaq said, for example, while watching the movie “Rocky,” “I know he might lose…and if he loses, he’ll go through this crazy comeback and win the last fight.”
On the other hand, when they watch actual crimes, they say, “I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
The athlete said his “Game Day Murders” project centers around crime in the world of sports at both the collegiate and professional levels.
Shaq clarified to Page Six that the show is in no way trying to “sensationalize” the victims or the tragedy, but rather approach the story with “respect.”
“Our goal was to honor the legacy of those who lost their lives and show viewers how we all come together during difficult times.”
Shaq pointed out that some of the biggest stories in sports are not just “what happens on the field or court,” but what can happen “after the final whistle.”
For example, Shaq had a memorable incident in 1999 when he blocked fellow NBA star Vince Carter’s dunk and caused him to fall.
At the time, Carter’s mother was seen scolding Shaq outside the court.
“She said if I hurt her baby, she was going to hit me,” he recalled to Page Six.
Today, Shaq and Carter reunited on another show, “Dunkman,” for which Shaq is currently an executive producer.
He said he never saw Carter’s mother again during production, but joked at the time that her mother “made a good point.”
“She didn’t want me to hurt her baby, and I understood. I never disrespect anyone’s mother,” he explained.
“But Vince was smarter than to dunk on me. He always told the guys who dunked on me that I had to lay them out!”
It’s been more than a decade since Shaq retired, but former teammate LeBron James is still going strong at age 41. He recently shocked the sports world by announcing in June that he would be leaving the Lakers after eight seasons.
When asked where James should go, Shaq advised him to “go where you can win.”
“Once it’s over for us, it’s over. I never want to sit back and say, ‘I should, I can, I would.'”
“Dunkman” airs every Tuesday at 8pm ET on TNT and is also available to stream on HBO Max. “Game Day Murders” premieres Monday, July 27 at 10pm ET on ID and streams on HBO Max.
