Shaq is kicking off the holiday season with a trip to Gainesville. No, it’s not only for his daughter who’s at The Swamp. Shaquille O’Neal has official duty down here. The City of Gainesville announced that the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat legend will lead the 2024 A Very GNV Holiday Parade as Grand Marshall. On time too. Gainesville locals have been missing him since he came around to shoot some hoops. Could we count on Meezy joining him?

The youngest O’Neal, Me’Arah is currently attending the University of Florida. She’s preparing to make her college debut with the Gators before the holidays. Shaq is yet to drop by, but at least now we know when his next visit to town is scheduled.

O’Neal’s history with Gainesville is quite interesting. The first time he shook up The Swamp was when he was the outstanding center of the LSU Tigers from 1989 to 1992. In 1990, he recorded his only scoreless game of his LSU career against Florida, though the Tigers won 70-52. He did record 4 rebounds, 1 block, 2 assists, and 1 steal. So he came back with the intent to terrorize the following year.

He’d score a jaw-dropping 31 points in the Gators’ 76-66 loss to the Tigers at their home game back in 1991. The visiting Gators players could only stand in shock as O’Neal scored 10 points and three blocks in the first three minutes of that game. Even triple-teaming him was ineffective. He also recorded the third triple-double of his college career with additional 21 rebounds and 10 blocked shots.

“He’s one of the premier post players in the country – on any level,” then Gators coach, Lon Kruger had to admit. “Obviously, he just took the game into his own hands. He just seems to improve every month.”

The Tigers and Gators clashed once more a month later in the Swamp. As per Kruger, “Big guy having a big effort,” resulted in a similar outcome, a 79-66 loss for Florida. For the Tigers, it was clinching the 1991 SEC Championship in Gainesville off the back of O’Neal’s 19 points and 19 rebounds. This game, the Gators centered their strategy around O’Neal and the center even took a nasty hit to his shin. But Mount Diesel was too tough for the Gators to overcome.

Shaquille O’Neal went to the NBA draft the following year. He’d return to Florida as Orlando’s top draft pick and return to Miami as a 3x NBA champion on the way to his fourth. His trips to Gainesville have been a lot pleasant since then.

Gainesville loves Big Guy Shaq

The next time Shaq played pickup ball in Gainesville was a lot more wholesome. Gainesville officer, Bobby White had gone viral as the ‘Basketball Cop’ in 2016 when he responded to a noise complaint and ended up playing ball with the source of the noise aka the neighborhood kids. Shaquille O’Neal, a voluntary cop in Florida, California, and Georgia, joined Officer White for another round with the kids.

No more is Shaq giving Gainesville the bitter taste of defeat. This time he’s spreading holiday cheer. “It’s always good to be in Gainesville,” said Shaq. “The street game with those kids really stuck with me. It’s all about building friendships and bringing people together. I’m happy to come back, see old friends, and help the City of Gainesville bring holiday cheer with a community parade.”

No hard feelings in the Swamp either, as the mayor invited Shaq to bring his signature fun to the parade. He will lead the second incarnation of A Very GNV Holiday Parade scheduled for Saturday, December 7. The procession will start at noon, moving from W. University Avenue and 6th Street and traveling approximately one mile, to end at the Alachua County Public Schools Administration Building at 620 E. University Avenue. Even 33 years on, it’s the same “big guy having a big effort” in Gainesville.