Shaquille O’Neal Has 1 Prediction For Zach Edey After Nickname Is Graciously Accepted

Shaq and Shaq 2.0 are the pair we didn’t know we wanted. Zach Edey put up consistently Big Diesel-like numbers this March Madness that Shaquille O’Neal dubbed him Zachille O’Neal. And the Purdue star owned the new title with grace because of his strong admiration for the OG. TNT showed Shaq that moment Edey loved the praise and it hyped Shaq even more.

He’s expecting some phenomenal things from the Boilermakers center on the weekend, calling out his favorite player on the show. “Let’s go Big Zach. You know what you got to do.” When they asked Shaq what Zach’s got to do, O’Neal had one word for him. “Dominate.” Nothing less from Zachille O’Neal.

Edey kicked off the Boilermakers’ NCAA run with a record that hasn’t been seen since Shaquille O’Neal’s 1991 and 1992 March Madness run at LSU. The big man himself applauded it by declaring, “@zach_edey way to dominate, I’m changing your name to Zachille O’Neal,” on social media.

The new moniker worked like a charm and Edey has led Purdue to the Final Four so far. When asked how he felt about having Shaq as a hypeman, the youngster was humbled. “Like, respect to him. He came before me. He’s done everything that I want to do. If he calls me Zachille, then I mean I’ll take it. I’m Zachille then.” That clip was aired on TNT much to Shaq’s glee. Fingers crossed these two have a face-to-face meeting soon when the TNT crew heads to Phoenix for the Final Four.

Shaquille O’Neal wants a Shaq-size stat

When Purdue does play against NC State, the pressure is already high on Edey. And now the Big Aristotle wants to see a Shaq-like stat line. “29-14-4,” as Shaq specified. He and the TNT guys think it will be easy for Edey but they also think Shaq’s kind of ruthless for setting the bar so high.

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Shaq also gave a quick shoutout to DJ Burns Jr. who’s getting comparisons to Nikola Jokic, another one of Shaq’s faves. But this kind of approval from him is a huge badge of honor. In the most recent episode of The Big Podcast, he didn’t think any of the boys lived up to the standards set by Angel Reese, Caitlin Clark, and Juju Watkins. Edey is now stealing his attention after all the comparisons to him.

His wingspan is bigger than Shaq and Wemby. He’s using his size well to be a foul menace to his opponents in the most unapologetic O’Neal manner there is. After Bol Bol, Edey is the next Shaq-approved star. Do you think he’d deliver that stat line to Shaq?

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