Sports has been the saving grace from a harsh life for countless athletes. Similarly, Jason McElwain, a.k.a ‘J-Mac’ who was diagnosed with autism at an early age, found his voice on the hardwood of Greece Athena High School. However, McElwain’s story came to light after an iconic moment in a high school basketball game in his senior year. Incidentally, Shaquille O’Neal took to social media to pay homage to ‘J-Mac.’
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4x NBA champion and Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal recently posted a story of McElwain’s iconic moment from a long time ago on his Instagram. The Los Angeles Lakers legend has over 27.8 Million followers on Instagram. O’Neal’s post had millions of fans melt away at the Stephen Curry lookalike.
Shaquille O’Neal pays homage to Jason McElwain a.k.a ‘J-Mac’ on his Instagram
Shaq shared a short clip of McElwain’s iconic moment from 2006. The clip was the shortened version of the ESPN Autism Awareness video on McElwain. The video covers a high-school game from his senior when McElwain, popularly known as ‘J-Mac,’ surprised everyone after a stellar performance.
On February 15th, 2006, The Greece Athena High School faced off against the varsity squad from Spencerport High School. McElwain got subbed in the final minutes of the game. His team, the Greece Athena Trojans, was up by 20, and the coach decided to give him a shot on the court.
Wearing #52, McElwain stepped on the court with rampant support from the audience. To the disappointment of the coach and the audience, he missed his first shot. However, he left everyone in the arena in utter disbelief soon after. ‘J-Mac’ drained six threes in less than four minutes. His Stephen Curry imitation led everyone to storm the court and celebrate the iconic performance.
The ‘Hot as a Pistol’ interview clip of his reaction to the performance went viral. After the fateful night, ‘J-Mac’ became a household name in the country. So much so that the then-POTUS George W Bush requested an audience with him. He also won an ESPY Award for?Best Moment in Sports.?
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Fast forward a decade, McElwain is a motivational speaker on autism awareness. Moreover, he has also co-authored a book on his inspirational story,?The Game of My Life.?
Shaq’s story is bound to remind the NBA community about J-Mac’s feat. His Stephen Curry-esque performance is bound to impress the greatest shooter of all-time himself and the NBA world in general.
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