Shaquille O’Neal is a legend, a larger-than-life figure who dominated the basketball court and has become an icon in business and media. He’s also known for his playful personality, a trait that has endeared him to millions of fans. But even a legend like Shaq can have a moment of “Wait, what?”—a hilarious slip of the memory that reminds us that even the most famous people are just as human as the rest of us.
Recently, Shaq found himself in a humorous exchange with Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. It all started when Cuban claimed he used to send tapes of Shaq’s pre-game shooting routine to the league office. Shaq’s response on social media? A simple, “Didn’t work n the 2006 finals did it.” A classic Shaq jab, right? But the internet, as it always does, went to the replay.
And that’s where the fun begins.
As much as we love Shaq, the numbers tell a different story from that epic 2006 NBA Finals series. While Miami Heat fans will forever cherish that championship, and rightly so, it turns out that Shaq’s free-throw shooting in that series was… well, let’s just say it wasn’t his finest moment. He shot 48 free throws over the six games, but only made 14 of them.That’s a 29.2% success rate, a number so low it makes you wonder if he was playing a game of horse with the rim. In fact, Shaq had more offensive rebounds than made free throws!
This isn’t a knock on Shaq, but a celebration of his humanity. We’ve all had those moments where our memory of an event is a little… fuzzy. Maybe we remember scoring the winning touchdown in a high school football game, but conveniently forget the part where we dropped the ball right before the end zone. Or we recall acing a presentation at work, but gloss over the part where the projector stopped working halfway through. Shaq’s misremembered stat is a perfect example of this. It’s a hilarious, relatable moment that reminds us that even a four-time NBA champion and future Hall-of-Famer can get a few details wrong.
The real hero of that series, of course, was Dwyane Wade, who put on one of the greatest Finals performances of all time.His incredible scoring and clutch play are what ultimately sealed the deal for Miami. Shaq’s tweet, though numerically incorrect, was a perfect example of his unwavering confidence and playful spirit. It’s the kind of confidence that made him so dominant on the court and so beloved off of it. He may have fumbled the stats, but he won the championship, and that’s all that matters in the end.
In the grand scheme of things, a few missed free throws or a slight memory lapse don’t define the incredible career of Shaquille O’Neal. Instead, they just add another layer to the legend—the Big Diesel, the Big Aristotle, and now, the Big Human, who reminds us all that it’s okay to have a little fun at your own expense.