There is a sect of society — I consider myself a member of it — that perpetually finds themselves Just Asking Questions about whether or not Stevie Wonder can see. To be clear, no one denies that Stevie’s music is phenomenal and that he is one of the greatest singer-songwriters to ever live, and everyone is beyond happy that he has blessed the world with his music, but there’s merely some skepticism around a portion of Wonder lore.
Deadspin did a big piece presenting all the evidence supporting this several years ago, while my come to Jesus moment came during my freshman year of college when Stevie sat courtside at the 2011 NBA All-Star Game. Now, for once in my life (do you get it), I believe this theory has been validated in a big way by none other than Shaquille O’Neal.
During Thursday night’s edition of Inside the NBA, Shaq told the world a story about Stevie. Before he even told it, his tease got Kenny Smith losing his dang mind, and as it turns out, that was 100 percent justified.
Shaq’s story about Stevie Wonder had the guys rolling 😂 pic.twitter.com/OmYYbtSN2Y
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) December 13, 2019
As the story goes, Shaq and Stevie lived in the same building. The big man was in the building, at which point he ran into Stevie by god Wonder, who asked “what’s up, Shaq?” before getting in the elevator, pressing a button, and going wherever he needed to go. Once that was over, Shaq claimed that he “went and called every person I knew.”
Now, I have been in the same vicinity as Shaquille O’Neal before, so I am fully aware that the dude has an aura about him that few other humans can match. Having said that, c o m e o n. Shaq is a good, honest man, one who would never purposefully lead any of us astray, and if he believes that Stevie saw him, said hi, and then went about his day, then by god, Stevie saw him, said hi, and went about his day. As that aforementioned piece in Deadspin lays out, this is not Stevie’s first time leaving a basketball player bewildered, as he was the man who nicknamed the late, great, Darryl Dawkins “Chocolate Thunder.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rR_FG7ywg4
This is also not the first piece of Stevie news from this week that calls into question his ophthalmological abilities — Lionel Richie, a lifelong friend of Stevie’s and someone else who would not lie about this (I think, I dunno, he made “Hello” so he rules), went onto The Kelly Clarkson Show and revealed that he believes Stevie ain’t blind.
Sometimes there is just too much smoke for there not to be a fire. The evidence is becoming more and more overwhelming at this point, and really, all we need is for Stevie Wonder to confirm what we already know.
