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While the big man remember that in 7’1″, with his now-retired basketball days, the intimidating father aura is still present, which our NBA giant shared a funny clip of his son, Shaqir, trying to prank him, and…sometimes everything that could fail, did fail! It was an excellent display of young Shaqir sneaking behind his giant daddy in a chill hookah session to drop some words of the sorts big Shaq reacted instantly: A lighter flying across the room as his son bolted away.
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The clip went bonkers, racking up 300,000 likes in no time. Comments were gold. “As you can see, the distance left in between him and his father was not coincidental, making sure his head start would secure his life!” well, way better than the explanation we would have given for the whole 10-second clip. That strategic retreat was very much calculated — when your dad is literally one of the largest guys ever to play professional sports, you learn survival skills at an early age.
A lot laughed at the size of everything in the room. “Man, everything in that room extra-large,” one comment read, while another said, “Bedroom looks like it belongs to a Giant from Game of Thrones.” True view, Shaq. The couch looks normal until you really sit down and feel that it can seat five regular-sized persons comfortably. Even the hookah sitting there looks like it can double as a small piece of furniture.
With a few comments about Shaq’s parenting style: “Shaq was raised by real parents; he is far from ‘gentle parenting.’” Another commented, “That’s a real parent throw”, which is…very much so. The flying lighter has already been compared to “una chancleta aka slipper,” almost a universal parent-treatment across cultures.
What mostly sets this clip apart is Shaqir’s body language even before he uttered a word. Several people wrote, “His shoulders was tense trying to say it” and “He was scared before the words came out his mouth.” The young man knew full well what he was risking with this prank. One insightful comment read, “He made sure to stay free throw length away from Shaq,” which is both hilarious and displays an advanced understanding of physics in relation to paternal rage radius.
Discussions about what comes next have almost been as funny as the clip itself. I’m not sure they would have had time to yell ‘it’s a prank’ if you were already standing up,” one person speculated; another added, “furniture would have been moving!!!” giving us a terrifyingly plausible alternate scenario.
The throw became a subject of analysis as well. “The lip and teeth. Hahaaa thats how you know its real,” commented one user on Shaq’s facial expression halfway through the lighter launch. That slight curl of the lips is indeed the universal sign of a parent transitioning from zero to “I will end you” in 0.2 seconds.
Execution of the prank occurred around the moment the audio was muted so that we are not sure what Shaqir said to trigger this episode. Whatever it was, it stirred an immediate reaction. The internet, as justices would put it, has declared it a very bad decision to prank a 325-pound Hall of Famer in his own house. However, it could have perhaps been the most relatable parenting moment ever captured on camera—proving that no matter how famous or successful you become, some dad instincts are just universal.
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The only other question remaining is whether Shaqir learned something or whether “Pranking Shaq Part 2” is coming down the line. With this much exposure, I am sure we will be seeing more O’Neals going viral soon. Just maybe with some better escape plans this time.