Between 2010 and 2011, Shaquille O’Neal and Nate Robinson captured the hearts of basketball fans with their hilarious pranks on each other. Although they spent less than a season together in Boston, they created memories that have lived on for years after they retired from the NBA. However, to the dismay of many, Robinson has confessed that most pranks were fake.
He was a guest on the Got Sole Podcast for the fifth episode of the sneaker and pop culture-themed show. The three-time dunk contest champion revealed that ‘The Big Diesel’ was the mastermind behind most of their antics. He said,
“[Shaq] set them up though. Shaq set all those pranks up. Not all of them, but most of them, yes, he set them up.”
The two hosts were in disbelief following Robinson’s revelation. Jonathan DiModica said, “This is like Santa’s not real.” The retired guard proceeded to list some pranks that were planned ahead of time, including the famous popcorn and water pranks.
During the popcorn prank, Robinson and O’Neal were in a movie theater and the center fell asleep with his mouth open. His teammate decided to take advantage. He took kernels of popcorn and tried to throw one in the four-time NBA champion’s mouth.
The water prank involved Robinson adding an extra ingredient to O’Neal’s glass of water and the clip was recorded by Paul Pierce. The veteran asked the guard to grab him a glass of water and he obliged. But he added salt to it, causing the center to spit it out and leaving the team in splits. While these were staged, there were a few that weren’t.
Nate dunked on Shaq twice
Robinson revealed his favorite prank was when he dunked on O’Neal during a Celtics practice. Following the vicious slam, the guard kicked his legs out over the center’s shoulders while hanging on the rim. An incensed O’Neal hilariously chased Robinson around the court.
He recreated that moment on the set of the 2017 film ‘Uncle Drew.’ O’Neal was helping fix a net on one of the rims with women’s basketball icon Lisa Leslie and Robinson took that opportunity to recreate the rival moment from 2010.
Robinson claimed it was his best prank on O’Neal. He said,
“When we did the movie Uncle Drew and he was standing under the hoop, I really dunked it. I dunked the sh*t out of his a*s.”
As disappointing as it is to learn that the pranks between them were staged, they will remain iconic.