The Big Fabricator
Shaquille O’Neal admits making up story about David Robinson refusing to sign an autograph.
Perhaps David Robinson put it best: Shaquille O’Neal is an entertainer and that’s what people love about him.
So when O’Neal recently offered a more public apology to Robinson about an alleged autograph snub when O’Neal was a teenager, the
Admiral took in stride.
“… David, I want to apologize for making up that rumor,” O’Neal said before laughter drowned out what he said next.
The admission was part of the recent
“NBA Inside Stuff”
’90s reunion videoconference via NBA Twitter. “Inside Stuff ” host and producer Ahmad Rashad moderated the event that included former players O’Neal, Robinson, Charles Barkley, Clyde Drexler, Tim Hardaway, Robert Horry, Karl Malone, Dikembe Mutombo, Gary Payton, Glen Rice, Mitch Richmond and John Stockton.
In addition to drawing laughter from his peers, O’Neal’s pledge to apologize quickly piqued their curiosity.
“So what was the rumor?” Drexler
asked.
“Shaq got people in San Antonio mad at me because I wouldn’t sign an autograph for him when he was a kid or something,” Robinson said.
O’Neal was a high school star in San Antonio when Robinson began playing for the Spurs. Both centers are now in the Hall of Fame.
“So David took all my shine when he came to San Antonio, so I hated him for that. And then the first couple of years [in the league,] he used to kill me. I had to make up my rumor to get mad [at him],” O’Neal said. “So I just made up a scenario. ‘Well, yeah, when I was 13, you wouldn’t sign my autograph. I’m mad now.’ ”
“You just made it up?” Rashad asked. “We were on a plane during the [1996] Olympic team, and I said, ‘Shaq. What’s this about me not signing an autograph for you when you were 13?’ ” Robinson said. “Shaq said, ‘Yeah. Sorry about that. I made that up.’”
Of course, a little research shows O’Neal’s math would indicate that the alleged snub would have taken place while Robinson was still playing college basketball at Navy. Robinson’s first year in San Antonio was 1989-90, and O’Neal was 17 when that season started.
Still, the rumor went mostly unchecked. Robinson, who was born in Key West, has talked about the “beef ” with O’Neal before. During a 2018 appearance on “SI Now,” he said he understood O’Neal’s reasoning behind the “rumor.”
“It’s part of Shaq and part of him making the game interesting and fun. It made us have some great battles, which I loved,” Robinson said. “Whatever you need to motivate yourself, you need to do it, because the competition is going to be intense, the scrutiny is going to be intense and it’s going to be a lot of fun. We just laughed about it later.”
O’Neal revealed earlier this year that he made up the story so he could get past Robinson’s personality.
“David was just so nice and respectful. He’s just a nice guy,” O’Neal told Heavy. “I’m not a bully. You have to piss me off for me to get mad. David was, ‘Hey Shaq how ya doin? How’s your family?’ So nice and — so I had to make something up just to make me mad and then when I came down to San Antonio and the fans start booing me — ‘Oh you’re booing me in my hometown?’
“And then it was like a hatred thing for David and the Spurs. But it was all made up.”
O’Neal and Robinson faced each other 40 times from 1992-2003, according to basketballreference.com.
They met 17 times in the NBA playoffs, with O’Neal holding a 9-8 edge. In 23 regular-season meetings, Robinson had the edge at 12-11.
Email Roy Parry rparry@orlandosentinel.com.