Shaquille O’Neal is big. He also likes to live life big, somehow turning every venture he ever undertakes into something that feels a little more normal-sized to the 7 foot 2 inches legendary Center. Although Shaq may not be the tallest player to ever grace the NBA hardwood (that being 7 feet and 7 inches Gheorghe Mureșan and Manute Bol of the same height) he sure may be the largest history has ever seen.
One of Shaq’s most known idiosyncrasies is his longtime feud with fellow ‘Inside the NBA’ co-host Charles Barkley. O’Neal joined the famous NBA talk show in 2011 and was met with 90s superstar power forward Charles “Chuck” Barkley.
The two gradually built a relationship over constant friendly ribbing and Shaq teasing Chuck over his lack of a championship ring, something O’Neal has 4 of. Over the years, the friendly competition has turned into somewhat of a battle in which Shaq and Chuck compete to try to one-up each other any chance they get. It seems Shaq’s new pet may be another chess move in his overall game with Charles.
Shaquille O’Neal is revamping his backyard with the help of a YouTuber
Shaq is obsessed with big things. Whether that be a giant Superman bed or an enormous tree made of the backboards he has destroyed in his career, large equals Shaquille O’Neal. His most recent venture into the realm of large things is the 39-inch Yamabuki, one of the largest ‘Koi’ fish in the world.
Shaq has hilariously dubbed his new pet fish ‘Charles Barkley’ as a not-so-subtle jibe toward the weight and physique of his close frenemy Charles. We will need to wait to see if Charles responds in earnest with a move of his own.
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It was recently reported that the pond and general landscape of Shaq’s property in McDonough, Georgia is getting a revamp and it is being done by popular YouTuber Ed the Pond Professor. His career with water features began in 1993 when he applied for a construction laborer position at Aquascape Inc. He now serves as vice president of field research and contractor development at Aquascape.
The property, according to Ed, had a natural spring that was used to turn a low spot into something of a pond, but the area was a mess and needed attention. This has led to Ed’s team completely revamping the landform with them even adding in a putting green and moving a million pounds of rocks to be added to the land. To cap it off, there is even going to be a waterfall system overlooking and spilling into the final pond area.