Back in the day, when Shaquille O’Neal dominated the block like no other big man since Wilt Chamberlain, it was almost impossible for opposing centers to slow the Big Aristotle down. Then along came the crafty Serbian, Vlade Divac, and flopping became the defense du jour when you didn’t have enough fouls for Hack-a-Shaq. The two were back at it, but without the pressure of a playoff series, when Vlade and the Kings minority owner were joined by Kings majority owner Vivek Ranadive to look for a birthday present for Vlade at the adidas store in Beijing.
Vlade and Shaq weren’t always chummy. After the Lakers defeated the Kings in a heavily contested 2002 Western Conference Final, Shaq came up with an impromptu diss track set to the Cheers theme song:
That was a long time ago, so its nice to see the two can joke about their battles underneath the iron. By way of Mike Prada comes their hysterical shopping excursion, complete with fake flopping by Vlade and a half-moon grin from Diesel:
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Shaq: “Wow, Vlade still fouling.”
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We’d like to see other former rivals exude this much conviviality long after their hardwood wars cease.
(Vines via Mike Prada at SB Nation; video via Sacramento Kings)
Which former NBA rivals would you like to see become friends?
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