“I’m like Osain Bolton!”: Shaquille O’Neal hilariously calls mispronounces Usain Bolt’s name and channels his spirit in training

ByTariq Sial September 29, 20228 months ago

Shaquille O’Neal has a history of calling people the wrong name: Usain Bolt was his target when he was on the Phoenix Suns.

In 2008, Usain Bolt was all the rage, winning gold at the olympics and rising to stardom. All the kids on the block wanted to be him, and some athletes too. Shaquille O’Neal, in his youth, was deceptively fast, and when he worked out with the Suns in 2008-09, he wanted to show off his speed.

Shaq was IShowSpeed before the kid, wanting to show off his rhythm. In a workout with Robin Lopez, he was waiting his turn to do the hoop-to-hoop runs. Shaq was asking a bewildered Lopez what the track star’s name was and, in typical Lopez fashion, he just nodded to everything.

Running between the posts, Shaq looked quite agile for his age. Coming off the bottom of his career with Miami, he was ready to work his way back up the ranks. If being “Osain Bolton” was the way to go, so be it!

Shaquille O’Neal was probably in the best shape of his life after the Lakers in Phoenix; too bad he couldn’t keep her

In the final years of his career on the Lakers and in Boston, Shaq was quite long in the waist. Shaq lost some of his excess weight during his stay in Phoenix.

He seemed invigorated as if he was closer to retirement, but everything fell apart. Never known for his work ethic, Shaq traded the gym for some donuts. He played about 100 games with the Suns, and the arid desert landscape motivated him to improve after living on the beaches of the West and East Coasts for 10 years.

He also saw his form improve, scoring around 17 points per game, still effective as a center of rotation. O’Neal had his backup, Robin Lopez, with him, and he still plays the same. If only Shaq lifted weights as often as he lifts his hand to eat a chicken wing, he would be the greatest of all time.