Shaquille O’Neal ran buck naked through the Phoenix Suns training facility?

By Shereen Rayan | Jun 14, 2017

Mar 24, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA: Former Los Angeles Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal speaks during a NBA game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /

The Brazilian Blur is back in Phoenix. Leandro Barbosa took the time to reminisce on his last 15 years in the NBA for A Players Tribune, and one of the highlights included a buck naked Shaquille O’Neal.

The host of Shaqtin’ a Fool, Los Angeles Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal, was crazy in his younger days. Some would argue he is crazy in his older days. But we can all agree that Shaq needs some serious pedicures to get his feet into photograph-able shape.

The last Shaqtin’ a Fool segment of the season aired on May 27, 2017. Most, if not all of the foolish moments in each segment are from on the court action, not off-the-court action.

Here is a compilation of all of Shaqtin’ a Fool moments from 2017:

One must have been a fool at times to fully appreciate and celebrate when others are foolish, and you gotta think there are a whole lot of stories out there no one has talked about just yet. Shaq’s fellow teammates and adversaries are probably waiting for the right moment.

Well, that moment has come for Shaq’s former Suns’ teammate Leandro Barbosa. Barbosa recently wrote about his life coming up and making it into the NBA. It is a really heartfelt story where he talks about living in a tough part of Brazil, selling fruit and sleeping on the floor and all he wanted to do was lift himself and his family out of poverty.

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After watching the NBA on his friend’s television, Barbosa decided that he was going to play basketball and make it to the states to ‘Get out.’ And that he did. He was drafted by the Spurs but was then traded immediately to the Phoenix Suns.

First, Barbosa played against Shaq, and he recalls that experience was harrowing. No one should try to drive to the basket when Shaq is defending it. At least that’s what Shaq told his opponents. And if they tried? Well, he would show them why by blocking their shots or knocked them on their a**. As Barbosa recalls it, this is what Shaq would say to intimidate his opponents:

"“If you come over here again … man. I swear to God, I’ll f*** you up. I will. I’ll f***ing do it.”"

But it wasn’t until Shaq and Barbosa were teammates that he came to appreciate Shaq’s antics.

As Barbosa tells it, Shaq picked him up to take him to the training facility one day for some pre-game rehab. When they got there, they stripped down and put on towels. but the trainer left them waiting in the training room for 15 minutes.

Barbosa titled his story I Have to Tell You a Story About the Big Nude Cactus. Ha ha ha, just the title makes me laugh. Here is the excerpt in Barbosa’s story about how the buck naked streak-fest that went down that day:

"“We’re all there in towels, just sitting around waiting. Shaq is kind of upset at this point. So he takes off his towel (not sure why) and heads down to our trainer’s office. He opens the door and is like, “Are you coming? Or am I going to have to pick you up and take you?”At first, the trainer can’t tell if Shaq is joking or not. Shaq takes a few steps closer and our trainer knows he’s not. So the trainer takes off — sprinting down the hall.Shaq follows him, of course. Still butt-ass naked. Now Shaq is in a dead sprint down the hallway, running past arena workers and other staff, screaming at the top of his lungs. This is a normal business day. It’s a weekday.”"

Next: 20 Greatest Individual Performances In Lakers History

Now, I don’t know if I would have wanted to be there to witness a buck naked Shaq or not, I mean I am only 5-foot-3, so I probably come up to his umm… But for sure I would not have been able to stop laughing, and I can see how the images would be indelible in Leandro’s mind. We thank him for sharing.

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