Shaquille O'Neal had a strange way of hazing rookies, Gary Payton says
Gary Payton, a teammate of O’Neal in both Los Angeles and Miami, sprayed the truth about O’Neal’s hazing habit during an appearance on VladTV
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}If you were an NBA rookie sharing a locker room with Shaquille O’Neal, sooner or later, Shaq would leave you peed-off. Literally. The Hall of Fame center reportedly doubled as a bad plumber throughout his career, regularly bursting the pipes of unexpecting rookies with his own urine.
Gary Payton, a teammate of O’Neal in both Los Angeles and Miami, sprayed the truth about O’Neal’s hazing habit during an appearance on VladTV:
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}MINNEAPOLIS - MAY 29: Shaquille O'Neal #34 and Kobe Bryant #8 of the Los Angeles Lakers stand on the court while playing againt the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game Five of the Western Conference Finals during the 2004 NBA Playoffs on May 29, 2004 at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (David S. Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images)
"Shaq is a jokester. So if one of the rookies would be in the stall, he would take a bucket and use the bathroom in it for about a week."
As Payton tells it, that’s when O’Neal would dunk on the unsuspecting newbies:
"And then all of a sudden, he would pour it on them."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Payton added that when they were teammates, Shaq wasn’t the only one who had jokes. In fact, Payton himself aided in a prank which left O’Neal exposing more than just a plumber’s crack.
Following practice one day, Payton, aka "The Glove," was able to get his hands on Shaq’s pants and underwear, forcing O’Neal to head home with only a towel between his cheeks and the seat.
FILE - In this April 15, 2003, file photo, Los Angeles Lakers Shaquille O'Neal, left, and Kobe Bryant share a laugh on the bench while their teammate take on the Denver Nuggets during the fourth quarter at Staples Center in Los Angeles. Bryant, the 18-time NBA All-Star who won five championships and became one of the greatest basketball players of his generation during a 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers, died in a helicopter crash Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian, File)
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Not for long though.
"He’d get in his truck and ride around and then he would throw the towel out and then he’d be free-balling," Payton told VladTV.
Good thing he never had to snake a drain.