Shaquille O’Neal says he wouldn’t do Dancing With the Stars because he likes to innovate: ‘If it was season one, I would do it’
Shaquille O’Neal says he wouldn’t appear on Dancing With the Stars because he likes to get in on the ground floor of things.
‘I can’t do it, yeah; I wouldn’t do it now,’ the NBA icon, 48, told Us Weekly Sunday. ‘I like being the innovator. If it was season one, I would do it. But I can’t do it in season two’ or beyond.
The ABC ballroom competition, which is in its 29th season, has past welcomed NBA stars such as Lamar Odom and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as contestants on the show.
The latest: Shaquille O’Neal, 48, says he wouldn’t appear on Dancing With the Stars because he likes to get in on the ground floor of things. He was snapped in February in Chicago
The former superstar for both NBA Finals franchises – the Los Angeles Laker and Miami Heat – told the publication that his fellow NBA alum Charles Oakley looked ‘really good’ in his run on the current season.
‘He looked really good at something that they’d been wanting me to do for a while, but I don’t have enough discipline and courage to do it,’ said O’Neal, who also played for the Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns, Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers over the course of his two-decade career in the NBA.
The 7ft1 hoops legend commended Oakley, who played most of his career with the New York Knicks, for remaining physically fit at 56.
‘He was always a guy that stayed in shape and it was really good and his outfit and his hips are still working really good,’ he said of Oakley, who was paired with pro dancer Emma Slater, 31, until their elimination in the show’s second week.
Out and about: O’Neal was snapped at the Pan African Film Festival in LA in February
Tyra Banks is seen on the set of the ABC ballroom competition, which is in its 29th season
O’Neal last month asked his followers on Instagram to vote for Oakley in his run on the show.
‘You kno who to vote for @therealoak34 had some great feetwork,’ O’Neal said, to which Oakley responded, ‘I’m about to faint over here @SHAQ just posted for @CharlesOakley34 on #DWTS Wow! Thank you Shaq!’
O’Neal said on a recent edition of his podcast, The Big Podcast with Shaq that for the first time ever, he has taken part in an election.
‘I voted for the first time, and it feels good,’ he said, noting that he submit an absentee ballot without specifying who he voted for in the race between former Vice President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump.
He added: ‘You know I always like being honest on my podcast. I’ve never voted before, America. But now I’m doing all these voting campaigns, and you know one thing I never like to do is be a hypocrite.’
Shaq said his fellow NBA alum Charles Oakley (pictured) looked ‘really good’ in his run on the show
The former superstar played for both NBA Finals franchises, the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat