Before Mike Tyson and Jake Paul could enter the ring on Friday, Shaquille O’Neal took center stage.
Ahead of Friday’s highly anticipated fight, the Netflix crew found the NBA legend in the crowd and pulled him along for what turned out to be a wild interview. O’Neal began by expressing his admiration for reporter Sibley Scoles, staring at the reporter as she tried to get his prediction on the fight.
O’Neal then called on friend Rob Gronkowski, who was sitting next to him during the fight, and revealed that the pair were developing an idea that would see NBA and NFL players compete against each other in the ring. Gronkowski joked that she and O’Neal would start it off by fighting each other.
The idea was a hit with some fans, who suggested they tune in to see the legends compete in the ring.
“When Shaq and Gronk are boxing and it’s real… Take every dime I have,” one fan shared in a post on X.
“An NBA NFL Boxing card would be legendary,” another fan added on X.
The NBA legend may have been considering ways to add more excitement to the sport he recently called out as becoming too boring. O’Neal said on “The Big Podcast with Shaq” that he doesn’t like the direction the NBA has taken in recent years and believes it is the reason for a decline in viewership.
“It failed because we’re looking at the same thing,” O’Neal said. “Everyone is making the same plays…Steph Curry and those guys blew it. I don’t mind that Golden State used to shoot threes, but every team isn’t a three-point shooter. So why does everyone have the same strategy? I think it makes the game boring.”
It wasn’t clear when O’Neal and Gronkowski could fight, should the NBA player follow through with his idea.
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