A jaw-dropping $1,000 splurge, and yet Shaquille O’Neal suffers from the same stinky condition? There’s always curiosity about O’Neal’s foot size. And the number 22 is always met with awe and surprise. However, the same sentiment wasn’t seen when the basketball legend showed off his feet once. All those years of playing basketball did take a toll on him. A similar reaction was seen when the basketball legend recently showed off his feet again to the TNT crew.

In the latest segment of NBA on TNT, O’Neal lifted his feet onto the table for the camera to get a better glimpse. The squad, including Ernie Johnson and Charles Barkley, weren’t impressed. “That is the worst thing,” Barkley said. It looks like O’Neal’s expensive pedicure isn’t helping much with his rough and dry feet. 

In an episode of The Big Podcast, O’Neal admitted that he indeed commits to his foot care and spends lavishly on it for one reason. “I give about $1,000 because I know my feet stink, I know they’re ugly, and I like to paint them.” O’Neal said. He further added, “I paint that s— because it’s ugly and I want it to look pretty.”

Unfortunately, playing any sport impacts the body. For some, it might be just the feet or sometimes both hands and feet. While O’Neal is well aware of that, he also often goes for pedicures to maintain proper care. But since when did he begin to take care of his feet?

Who suggested Shaquille O’Neal to paint his nails?

It was all thanks to Big Aristotle’s mother, Lucille O’Neal. Recalling his playing days, O’Neal once detailed an instance when he refused to play a game because of his torn toenail. Lucille didn’t want her son to lose his chance to compete in a game just because of a toenail, so she not only suggested that he put on nail paint, but she actually applied red paint to his toenails.

That nail paint turned out to be good luck for O’Neal, as he scored 40 points in that game. That’s when it all started for him. “I was like, I tore my toenail off, so she did something and then she put like, some red polish on the thing, and I had 40 that game. So I was like, you know what, I’m just going to start painting my toenails,” he once said.

There is also another reason. O’Neal’s LSU coach, Dale Brown, recalled that the basketball legend didn’t have good shoes when he joined the program. His family couldn’t afford expensive shoes, so the basketball legend had to manage with what he had. And that’s why Brown thought O’Neal had “ugly” feet. 

“Shoe-wise, he has club toes because, growing up, they couldn’t afford shoes. He may have the worst-looking feet in the history of the Western Hemisphere because of the shoes,” Brown once said. Well, times have changed. The Los Angeles Lakers legend can now afford not just one, but several pairs of luxury footwear, though his massive feet size still remains an issue. He might have to start paying more for his pedicures.