Where did 'Shaquille O'Neal holding a water bottle' originate from? Exploring the roots of the viral picture

One of the most iconic photos of NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal is him drinking from a regular-size water bottle. In the picture, O’Neal’s larger-than-life hands make the bottle look like a toy.

The Iconic photo originates from an episode of The NBA on TNT’s “Inside the NBA” post-game show. O’Neal is one of four hosts, alongside fellow retired NBA players Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley and talk show personality Ernie Johnson.

The segment occurred in 2017 and involved Shaquille O'Neal trying Paqui’s “One Chip Challenge." The challenge was that O’Neal had to eat a spicy chip from the company without making a face. The challenge used a tortilla chip made with ghost peppers and the Carolina Reaper, one of the hottest peppers in the world.

O’Neal bet Barkley $20 that he could beat the challenge. After taking a bite of the chip, O’Neal held a straight face for about 20 seconds while talking trash to his co-hosts. O’Neal then started choking while hilariously claiming that he was not making a face.

“I’m not making a face Ernie! I’m just coughing! I’m not making a face! I’m just coughing!” proclaimed O’Neal in the video

A few seconds later, O’Neal admitted that the chip was spicy.

“Oh, it’s hot. Anybody got some milk?”, O’Neal said as the TNT crew laughed uncontrollably in the background.

At that point, O’Neal picked up the water bottle in front of him with a distressed look on his face. This action led to the now iconic photo of O’Neal drinking from the tiny water bottle.

“50 thousand to your favorite charity” – Shaquille O’Neal’s offer to Charles Barkley to try the “One Chip Challenge”

Shaq took the 'One Chip Challenge' and didn't fare as well as he hoped uproxx.it/2h2gCWZ https://t.co/Q0GvXkPEic

After Shaquille O’Neal finished the “One Chip Challenge,” he made a generous offer to co-host Charles Barkley to try the challenge. The stakes had raised since O’Neal’s original $20 bet that he wouldn’t make a face.

“You take a bite out of that, I’ll write a check, 50 thousand to your favorite charity tonight,” said O’Neal.

However, Barkley, who has also had many humorous moments on the show over the years, decided to pass.

“Not gonna happen. Not gonna happen,” replied Barkley.

Nonetheless, we still got one of the best clips in the history of “Inside of NBA.”

Why does 2020 feel like a One Chip Challenge gone wrong? 🥵🔥 #onechipchallenge @SHAQ @NBAonTNT https://t.co/Mjfv1wAX8X