Shaquille O’Neal and Simone Biles (Photos via Getty Images)
Sports fans are completely mind-blown after an old image of basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal and Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Simone Biles resurfaced on social media.
Shaquille O’Neal dominated the NBA landscape thanks to his size (7-foot-1) and elite athleticism. As for the 4-foot-8 Simone Biles, she has put together an excellent case as the greatest gymnast of all tiime, having just won two more Olympic gold medals at the 2024 games in Paris.
The @DraftKings X/Twitter recently shared a photo of O’Neal and Biles from 2017. The photo was taken at Super Bowl 51 in Houston, Texas seven years ago:
Never forget this iconic photo of Shaq and Simone Biles 🐐😂#OpeningCeremony pic.twitter.com/B8dWAKWgKL
— DraftKings (@DraftKings) July 26, 2024
And sports fans had all sorts of hysterical reactions to this viral image of Shaquille O’Neal standing beside Simone Biles. Even with the latter wearing heels, the height difference is astonishing to see:
😳😂🙏🏆🇺🇸 is this real?
— DAN ZABORSKI (@DZizBigFish) July 28, 2024
That’s ridiculous lol
— Ryan Gaertner (@Ryan_Gaertner) July 26, 2024
The best iconic shot of all time – Shaq vs. Biles
right after the Levitating Surfer— ilovehouston3000 (@ilovehouston301) July 31, 2024
Bruh 😭
— Chadwick Pittman (@Burnracct2022) July 27, 2024
Shaquille O’Neal was a 15-time All-Star who won four NBA championships, leading the Los Angeles Lakers to a three-peat with Kobe Bryant (2000 to ’02). He won his fourth ring with Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat in 2006.
Biles now has nine Olympic medals (six gold, one silver and two bronze). Only four female gymnasts have more Olympic medals than Biles: Larisa Latynina (18), Věra Čáslavská (11), Ágnes Keleti (10) and Polina Astakhova (10).
It’s hard to predict the future four years in advance, but Biles would have the golden opportunity to climb the leaderboard if she returned for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Biles will be 31 years old then.
Shaquille O’Neal Will Be A Free Agent Next Year
O’Neal has had a successful NBA analyst career on TNT, but the network suffered a giant blow last month when it lost basketball coverage after the league signed new TV contracts.
Shaq and fellow Hall of Famer Charles Barkley have been two of the most entertaining sports media personalities since teaming up on TNT. But both men should be highly-coveted when they become free agents following the expiration of TNT’s deal with the NBA next year.
