“‘I would go outside and strike conversations with the neighbors… I was going to the mall, going shopping” - Shaquille O’Neal on suffering boredom when he hurt his Achilles at the end of his career

Shaquille O’Neal opened up about just how bored he was during his Achilles tendon injury nearing the end of his career, even talking about going shopping.

O’Neal said:

“I would go outside and strike conversations with the neighbors. … I was going to the mall going shopping, I was like, ‘Damn, too much free time’”

Shaquille O’Neal and his shopping spree of boredom

While playing with the Boston Celtics for the remaining years of his career, “The Big Diesel” suffered a battle with his Achilles tendon. The reoccurring injury prevented O’Neal from fulfilling the terms of his deal with Boston.

First injuring his right Achilles on Christmas Day, Shaq went on to appear in only two of the last 35 games of the regular season.

O’Neal played only 37 games in his final season for the Celtics. He averaged 9.2 points and 4.8 rebounds. Leaving much to be desired, The Big Diesel was battling an injury and the end of his career. He had far proved himself and made the right move caring for his body.

As a result of the major time off, Shaq ended up striking up conversations with neighbors.

O’Neal said his neighbors even commented on how he usually never struck up such conversations. The boredom was really sinking in.

On top of that, O'Neal went shopping. Can you imagine walking into a mall and seeing The Big Diesel strutting down the strip?

The injury really must have set O’Neal back if he claimed it was that bad. At least Shaq handled his time off well.

After his career on the floor ended, O’Neal went on to be a large media presence for basketball. Running the panel with Charles Barkley while maintaining his own podcast for the league shows his dedication.

The Big Diesel has always been about basketball. To hear that he was so bored by not playing he even resorted to shopping is arguably no surprise though.

O’Neal is a relatively social presence, so not being around the game or his teammates must have been eating at him.

Clawing at any outlet he can reach to entertain his mind is a definite result of boredom, though.

There stands no question of just how bored O’Neal was, especially if he himself voiced the concern.

O'Neal has career averages of 23.7 points, 10.9 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game with four championships. Considered one of the greatest bigs of all time, one can only imagine how much he missed the game.

Being at the end of your career and just wanting to get every last drop out of your performance is one thing. Seeing that fade away from the shopping mall must have been something else.