NBA Legend Shaquille O’Neal, a Motor Sport Enthusiast, Has a Special Message for His ‘Nephew’

A while back, Shaquille O’Neal walked through the paddock at the Formula One race in Miami. A fan rushed up to him and asked him a simple question- he wondered how big of a fan Shaq was of the sport. Shaq responded with two words, “Lewis Hamilton”. The video instantly went viral online. For years now, the four-time NBA Champion has attended many motorsport races across the world. He was in Abu Dhabi for the final F1 race of 2022 and has also dabbled in a little DJ Diesel show during the Grand Prix in Austin, Texas. However, his love for racing goes beyond Formula One, as was evident in this instance.

In general, Shaq is a motorsport enthusiast. He is a fan of NASCAR and has immense respect for athletes in the motorsport industry. Furthermore, he has dabbled in a little bit of racing himself. As his love for the sport continues, the Big Aristotle had a message for his ‘nephew’.

A message for the ‘nephew’

Before making his usual appearance on Inside the NBA, Shaq took to his Instagram story to share a post about a boy, who he called his nephew. The post is about 12-year-old Dylan Bongiovanni, whose Instagram bio states, “driver of the 62 Legend car”. Legend car driving is another form of motor racing that focuses on fun races with minimal or low cost.

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In the story, Shaq wrote,

“Go and show my Nephew some love.” The original post, uploaded last month, was of Dylan standing in front of his car with a number one sign. He held a board that stated that the 12-year-old had just won the first race of 2023. His caption read, “first race of the new season today at Atlanta Motor Speedway.” 

Following this, he thanked Andy James, who is an expert at Driving Development, for helping him throughout the race. After Shaq shared this story, Dylan thanked him by sharing it on his story.

Shaquille O’Neal with Dale Earnhardt Jr

Several years ago, Shaq drove a NASCAR machine alongside

Dale Earnhardt Jr. After this experience, Shaq was left heavily impressed with race car drivers. In an interview, he stated that these drivers are athletes, and those who refused to believe the same were out of their minds.WATCH THIS STORY: 10 times Chuck roasted NBA stars.

He said, “

That was the toughest three hours I’ve ever had in my life. I was fitted for a car, me and Dale raced 50 laps, and I slept for two days after that. I really did.”