If one wishes to meet their favorite player, where should he/she go looking for them? It’s a question that depends from player to player. Often, you may even encounter them someplace you wouldn’t expect. Especially if your favorite player is Los Angeles Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal. Big Diesel has developed a taste for different things during and even after his time with the NBA. While his love of music is a well-known fact amongst his fans, Shaq is also known to ride motorcycles without taking the proper precautions and participate in events for a noble cause. Clearly, the behemoth has a varied set of interests. So finding him would require a lot of tracking.

Fortunately for one fan, he ran into Shaq. He even tweeted about the bizarre encounter with the four-time champion.

A Twitter user encountered Shaquille O’Neal at an unusual place

Recently, the sports website ‘Bleacher Report’ took to Twitter to ask their followers a question: ‘What’s your most random encounter with an NBA player?’ A user by the name of ‘ozzy’ retweeted the post in order to tell his story. He recalled how he met Shaq sitting “right at the door of a hookah lounge/dine in” in the same town where his college was located.

He and his friends were hesitant in regard to whether they should approach the former player or not. If yes, then what would be the best way to do so?

They were eventually able to shake the player’s hand and get a picture together. They even got Diesel to autograph their food bill.

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The ‘hookah lounge’ part certainly caught Twitter users off guard, since that is not something they would usually associate Shaq with. But perhaps in post-retirement life, the 2000 NBA MVP has found new interests. One that he doesn’t want his children to know about.

Shaq recalls lying to his children about the use of hookah

The above incident isn’t the first story that people have heard about the former player’s usage of hookah.

Having been a TNT analyst since retirement, Shaq also started his own podcast on the same show a few years ago. Titled ‘The Big Podcast’, it features the former player alongside co-hosts Nischelle Turner & Spice Adams.

During an episode that the trio did back in March, Turner brought up the rumor that Adam Silver, the current commissioner of the NBA, is on the shortlist to become the new CEO of Disney. When Adams asked Shaq whether he would take up the commissioner job if Silver left, Shaq instantly agreed.

Turner then suggested that Shaq should install hookah lounges in every stadium if it comes to that. Shaq corrected Turner by stating that they are not hookah lounges but an ‘asthma lounge’, which created a dose of laughter for his co-hosts. “I don’t smoke hookah, I do asthma treatment,” said Shaq with a grin on his face.

The Big Aristotle recalled the first time his kids encountered him indulging in the treatment, which led him to come up with the ‘asthma’ part.

“When you see daddy on the asthma machine, don’t come in my office,” said Shaq in reference to what he would tell his kids.

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Shaq concluded the topic by stating that he has been partaking in the ‘treatment’ since 2008. Have you ever run into an NBA player?