Imagine the NBA without LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, and other stars of similar stature. Seems like a nightmare for hardcore NBA fans but this will one day be a reality. There’ll always be someone to replace the others, you say? Well, Shaquille O’Neal begs to differ. He knows who runs the league at the moment and what these superstars bring to the table. And it turns out, this understating was the whole reason behind Shaq’s idea for his NBA All-Star team.
During a pre-game interview with Kevin Hart, the former Los Angeles Lakers star got real about his picks. He admitted that he chose the league’s biggest legends because, in three or four years, they might not be around anymore. “So I just wanted to put all these guys together and show the young guys and show the youngsters who runs this league,” Shaq explained.
Shaq and Kevin Hart with a friendly back and forth before Game 2 of the #NBAAllStar Mini Tournament pic.twitter.com/RMlJoyPGbZ
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 17, 2025
And man, did they prove Big Diesel right? Shaq’s OGs dominated the NBA’s first-ever All-Star mini-tournament, making it clear why the 4x NBA champ had so much faith in them. If you missed it, here’s what went down—Stephen Curry went full-on vintage mode, knocking down ridiculous half-court and no-look threes.
The result? A commanding 41-25 win over Charles Barkley’s Global Stars in the final. The outcome must sting for Chuck since he had a completely different prediction. He thought Shaquille O’Neal’s team would fall apart. “LeBron [James] and AD [Davis] ain’t gonna be speaking ’cause they mad at each other. KD [Durant] gonna hate Steph [Curry] cause he don’t wanna play with him,” Barkley had said.
Well, guess what? Shaq got the last laugh. Big Diesel called it, and his squad delivered. However, there’s more to this win for Big Diesel than you’d think.
$100k reward awaits Shaquille O’Neal following his win at All-Star mini-tournament
Right before the NBA All-Star weekend kicked off, someone bet against Big Diesel winning the event. And it wasn’t just anyone—it was his go-to car dealership, Effortless Motors! One of the dealership employees made things official in an Instagram video, putting $100,000 worth of custom modifications on the line. If Shaq’s OGs managed to pull off the win, Effortless Motors would cover the cost of tricking out his brand-new truck—completely free of charge.
“Just got off the phone with Shaquille O’Neal. We just bet $100,000 to Shaquille O’Neal on his brand-new custom truck. If Shaq’s team wins the 2025 NBA All-Star, this hundred-thousand-dollar custom truck will be on Effortless Motors,” the dealership executive announced.
And as mentioned earlier, he wasn’t rooting for Shaq! He straight-up said he was backing anybody but Shaq’s OGs. Little did he know about Shaquille O’Neal’s motivation behind picking the players for his team, which he shared with Kevin Hart in the aforementioned pregame interview.
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