[UPDATE] Shaquille O'Neal has responded to his remarks at the Los Angeles Lakers all-access event.

“You guys know I’m the life of the party, so I had to pick it up,” O’Neal said. “So every question they asked me, I had to give them a funny response.

“I was on stage and a guy asked, ‘How was your time at LSU?’ and I said, ‘Yes, they paid me very well,’ ” he said. “The crowd went crazy. ... It was a joke.”

He blamed social media for this debacle, saying that someone "with 82 followers" tweeted out the comment for national notoriety. He then went on to show his love and respect for LSU,

“Everyone knows LSU is the most honorable university ... ever,” he said. “Everyone also knows I don’t sell my soul for anything.

“Everybody knows the relationship me and Dale Brown have, and the love we share for each other,” O’Neal added. “Something like that would never happen.”

According to The Advocate, the full quote from Shaq when being asked about his son from emcee Bill Macdonald was:

“I asked him where he wanted to go to school (college) and he didn’t give me the right answer,” Shaquille O’Neal said.

“Which is?” Macdonald asked.

“LSU. I already told him that, 2016, you can probably get a house, you can probably get two cars,” O’Neal said. “I’ll set it up for you. I know some people down there. Just playing. These are just jokes!”

Dale Brown went on to defend O'Neal, saying that he's always been a practical joker and prankster.

Current LSU basketball coach Johnny Jones, who was an assistant on Brown's staff when O'Neal played there, preferred not to comment.

O'Neal continued to say that it was all a joke, and he has nothing but the utmost respect for LSU.

“We have to stop letting social media run things. ... It was a joke at an event where I told a lot of jokes,” he said. “Everybody knows my time at LSU was nothing but love and sacrifice — all for the university. That’s what LSU stands for.

“So, people of the honorable LSU, don’t worry about nonsense from these idiots. We know what we do and we know how we do it. That’s why I keep coming back every year.”

I believe that he was just joking when he made those statements, but WHY make them? Why now? That's really not something that you joke about. Especially when you have a son who could be hurt by them in the long run.

Shaq's son, Shareef, who is a 15-year-old sophomore, and reportedly already has scholarship offers from LSU, UCLA, Southern Cal, and others. Let's just say Shareef DOES end up going to LSU. Do you not think that the NCAA is going to be all over him now?

[Original Story]

The NCAA prohibits student athletes from receiving bribes or “extra benefits” to play sports, but former LSU and NBA star Shaquille O'Neal has just publicly admitted he was "Paid very well" to play basketball for the Tigers.

reportedly told the crowd at an all-access Los Angeles Lakers event that the statute of limitations is now up, so he could talk about it. It's long been rumored that O'Neal was compensated to play by LSU boosters and supporters, but now he's gone ahead and removed all doubt. Could he just be kidding around though?


OK, not that I don't believe this sort of thing happens in College sports, because it does, but something about this doesn't seem right. Even being that the statute of limitations is now expired, why would he directly place his own son in the middle of a firestorm of controversy that could damage his chances of playing College basketball?

Shaq is known for being a prankster, and I hope this is all just really a misguided joke.

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