"Be freeballing all the time"- Gary Payton once took Shaquille O'Neal's underwear and got it framed from his house
NBA legends and former teammates Gary Payton and Shaquille O'Neal were just as relaxed off the court as they were competitive on it. The 2006 champions with the Miami Heat developed a special bond dating back to their stint as teammates with the LA Lakers in 2003-04.
They continued their partnership in 2006 with Miami, where their relationship only improved. The two appeared to have a lot of comical moments. Over a year ago, during an interview with VladTV, Payton recalled playing pranks on O'Neal by hiding his shorts and drawers. Payton also confirmed that he had Shaq's drawers framed in his house.
Here's what the former DPOY said about these hilarious incidents with O'Neal:
"I got that [Shaq's framed underwear] on my floor in the back. I moved, so I got the big old shorts. But Shaq, man, we used to always play jokes. Shaq is a jokester. So if one of the rookies were being installed, he would take a bucket and used to bathroom in it for about a week.
"Then all of a sudden he'd pour it on them. So we started being jokesters. So I said, 'I gotta get him.' So I got his drawers one day... He had to be freeballing all the time. So we messed up his pants, so he'd have no drawers becase he was trying to find his drawers and I had them."
Gary Payton revealed that Shaquille O'Neal had to roam around with a towel wrapped around him. However, the latter was a sport and didn't mind the pranks by his fellow veteran teammate.
Gary Payton was instrumental in Shaquille O'Neal's fourth championship win
Gary Payton and Shaquille O'Neal were jokesters off the court, but they never took the sport lightly. The two veterans handled business seriously, and it was crucial to the Miami Heat's 2006 championship win.
However, it took Payton to pull the big brother card on Shaq and convince him to play second-fiddle to Dwyane Wade. O'Neal joined the Heat in 2004 as one of the biggest superstars. He was coming off his fourth finals appearance in five years. He also three-peated with the LA Lakers and won the finals MVP between 2000 and 2002.
The Heat had a rising superstar in Wade, who was the team's best player. However, like any other superstar veteran who was on a decline towards the end of his career, O'Neal took time adjusting to not being a team leader.
Gary Payton had to step in and promote Dwayne Wade as the main man. Shaquille O'Neal bought into that advice from Payton. That led to the Heat winning the championship in 2006. Wade won the finals MVP, averaging 34.7 points and 7.8 rebounds, while Shaq was the third-highest scorer, averaging 13.7 points and 10.2 rebounds per game.