Once more Shaquille O’Neal’s larger-than-life persona is frustrating people. (Kidding, but not really.) Before he returns to NOLA to clobber Master P, Shaq is on an international tour. He joined Dwyane Wade and Yao Ming at the NBA China games and had a stop in Saudi Arabia in between. The giant’s a big fan of Arabic culture, is endeared by how well he’s treated by fans in Dubai and the UAE, and is the tourism ambassador of Abu Dhabi. But this trip to Riyadh bothered his old friend.
Although Shaq frequently vacations in Abu Dhabi, this time he made a trip to Riyadh for work and fun. The capital of Saudi Arabia hosted the JOY Forum this year that brought together global stars. Besides Shaquille O’Neal, the iconic Terry Crews; YouTube megastar, Mr Beast; combat mogul Dana White; Bollywood star, Aamir Khan, Shark Tank’s Daymond John, and even WWE stars were at the event.
It gave Shaq the opportunity to catch up with his friend, Turki Alalshikh (also stylised ‘Turki Al-Sheikh’). He’s a top official in the Saudi government and advisor to the Royal Court, and has been the force behind Saudi’s growing prominence as a global sports and entertainment culture hub. Seven months after their first meeting, O’Neal and Alalshikh were in the same space again, talking to media, taking photos. For the Saudi official, it was a bit reluctantly.
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Sharing his encounter with Shaq on his official Instagram page, the 44-year-old said, “I am very excited. I always hate to take pictures with someone taller [than] me. But this is not natural.” Yeah, 7’1″ is not an average height anywhere. Alalshikh makes it just upto the giant’s shoulder and you can tell Shaq is loving it from that grin.
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Why is Alalshikh making himself puny? As he wrote on that post, “A big surprise is coming very soon with the one and only @Shaq. Stay tuned!” Neither spoils it but the Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority said, “there’s a big surprise with him next year in basketball. He’s a great man and he [has] a great idea and we will be big partner with him.” Quite literally in a sense.
After NBA’s preseason in Abu Dhabi, which missed the gigantic tourism ambassador, a basketball project coming to Saudi Arabia through Shaquille O’Neal is a big deal. What it could be is anyone’s guess. But it’s something that came up just at the Joy Forum.
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Shaq’s got something brewing in Saudi Arabia
Turki Alalshikh met Shaquille O’Neal earlier this year. It wasn’t a specific event and there aren’t any details of how this encounter came out to be. Yet it went viral and seemed like a prelude to the JOY Forum.
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Then too Alalshikh teased, “With my brother, the legend Shaquille O’Neal… There are a lot of surprises in the future together.” Before, we would’ve thought this was a teaser to Shaq’s appearance at the mega Riyadh event. But he’s teased that the real ‘surprise’ is yet to come.
The biggest hint is that it’s in basketball. Alalshikh has made his country the ultimate boxing destination. Lately he’s diving into the soccer business. But he could be a force in the NBA’s overseas expansion plans.
Or it could be more Shaq centric. The big guy is making baby steps into franchise ownership, including collaborating with the ownership group of Napoli Basketball in Italy. He’s got a verbal committment from Mark Cuban to own a future NBA team too. Given his connections to this part of the world, O’Neal could do something huge next year.
But this is all speculation. They’re doing everything to keep this a surprise. We’ll have to look forward to 2026 to find out the big news.