Shaquille O’Neal hasn’t limited his loyalty to one team in the NBA. Big Diesel played for six teams in his career, where he spent a year in Phoenix to play for the Suns. Goran Dragic entered the league with the Suns when Shaq was part of the team. In a recent revelation, ‘The Dragon’ informed of how he was being tarnished as a rookie, especially at the hands of the 4x NBA champion.
Getting into the NBA as a rookie is never easy. Aside from the high ladder that you have to climb to get to the top, teammates will never easily get on a rookie. It is a prevailing tradition that has been part of the championship for many years.
Dragic was no stranger to some old-fashioned hazing. During his rookie year in Phoenix, Dragic often found himself under the wing of Shaquille O’Neal who asked him to do tasks that didn’t really make much sense.
Shaquille O’Neal is a total savage when it comes to messing with rookies
Nobody in the NBA would want to mess with Shaq. On the pitch, opponents feared his strength and often couldn’t keep him from scoring. When you join the squad as a rookie you can’t help but nod to whatever Shaq asks you to do.
Goran Dragic was the recipient and there is an invaluable story. The current Miami player appeared in a recent episode of ‘The Woj Pod’ where he had a long chat with Adrian Wojnarowski about his career, his current squad, Jimmy Butler’s leadership and more.
A story about his rookie year popped up at one point and Shaq entered the scene as well. “I have to admit it was great,” Dragic said, talking about how Shaq treated him like a rookie. “He took care of me. He had a lot of jokes, he was so funny “, He added.
“I always had to carry his keyboard when we were leaving. It’s a great keyboard ” Dragic said. “Sometimes my room was next to his and I never heard him play.”
“At the end of the season, I asked him, ‘Hey Shaq, have you ever played on the keyboard?’ He said no. ‘ I said, ‘Why not? He said: ‘No, it doesn’t work. Is broken. ‘ “
Imagine, a poor Dragic, who had to carry a keyboard all season, only to find it never worked in the first place. Classic Shaq!
