The big man with many nicknames, Shaquille O’Neal, would’ve had to come up with new ones to match the new arenas over a decade ago. That is, if he was open to playing outside the NBA. Despite spending a significant part of his childhood in Germany and being surrounded by Mexican culture in San Antonio, his love for foreign cultures wasn’t enough to lure him overseas. Over a decade since he completely ruled out an overseas option, Shaq confirmed an urban legend.

Did Shaquille O’Neal play professional ball overseas outside the scope of Team USA? Simply put, no. But the international leagues did try.

The Urban Legend of El Shaq

The 2010-11 season was more of Shaq’s farewell tour. After 19 seasons, Shaquille O’Neal was well on his way out. He’s said many times he had not completely planned out life after the NBA. When TNT approached, he immediately jumped on the opportunity. Weeks into his debut as an NBA analyst, rumors were rife that Shaq could return to the court. Just not in the NBA.

ESPN Deportes reported that Fuerza Regia, the basketball team in the Mexican Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional League was interested in Shaq in 2012. But those rumors fizzled out quickly. In 2024, 52-year-old Shaq is in Mexico, and O’Neal confirmed it was true.

“Yeah. Somebody asked me to go play there and I was going to come and I forget what exactly happened but yeah, that’s true,” he told a Mexican news outlet.

Regia’s team president Sergio Ganem said back then that they approached TNT analyst Shaquille O’Neal with a deal. If it went through, Shaq could’ve done something like Dennis Rodman did in 2004, appear in a couple of games in the 2012-13 season and call it a day. Shaq doesn’t remember why the deal broke down now, but it could be his own reluctance back then.

Euroball’s siren song missed Shaquille O’Neal

Deejaying was Shaq’s second act that has made him an international presence. Today he performs in Lollapalooza and Electric Castle in Europe, where he grew up as a military kid. Germany was where he was scouted for LSU, but coming full circle was not on O’Neal’s cards.

Leading up to the 2010-11 season, there was a lot of speculation if any team was still interested in Shaq. Most analysts predicted he’d have a higher chance in the European league than get an NBA callback. When he teamed up with a young LeBron James in Cleveland, his contemporaries, Allen Iverson and Tracy McGrady were looking outside borders. So rumors cropped up that European teams were trying to poach Shaq.

Some claimed, one of them including Bleacher Report, that European teams were willing to offer Shaq upwards of $10 million, an enticing deal for the then-38-year-old O’Neal who refused to settle for a veteran’s minimum. Dennis Rodman had played overseas before and Dwight Howard was a decade from going to Taiwan. But if Shaq took the deal then, he’d have been the biggest NBA star to go overseas. It’s not how it happened though.

Shaq wanted to go out with ‘grace’

But he believed he still had enough to contribute to the NBA. “International? No,” O’Neal very bluntly said in 2010. He was in talks with teams and closing in one, giving him the confidence to say, “I know I will play in the NBA next season.” He said he’d find out which team he’s heading to in a week. Only the next day after that interview, the Boston Celtics confirmed they signed him to a two-year contract worth about $3 million.

O’Neal sounded deluded when he was holding on the aspiration to be a starter. As history went, he’d barely play in that Celtics season before injuries made him limp off the court. Although he never explained why he never wanted to play overseas, his thought process back then indicated his goal was to always end his career where it started – in the NBA, and walk into the Hall of Fame.

“I came into the league very graciously and want to go out very graciously. My main thought was I would like to play for a winning franchise, somebody that’s used to winning, somebody that keeps winning,” he said a day before the Celtics confirmed his signing.

Shaq never got his fifth ring. However, the Lakers announced his jersey retirement at the same time the Mexican league approached him. He’d later have his own statue at the Lakers arena and headlined the 2016 Hall of Fame class.

His sentiments seemingly haven’t changed. His son, Shareef O’Neal was close to playing in Australia after a year-long hiatus from basketball and the G-League. Shaq convinced him to stay and work for him at Reebok. This month, Shareef has inked his first NBA deal with the Sacramento Kings to suit up for the G League. A decade since retiring, he’s comfortable confirming that he could’ve extended his career outside the NBA if he wanted to.