Shaquille O'Neal is the latest NBA player to say he believes the Earth is flat
Shaquille O'Neal has a strong reputation as a bit of a jokester and a prankster, so we need to take his latest comments with a grain of salt. But based on his tone and his argument, it would seem that he is serious on this one - Shaquille O'Neal seems to believe the Earth is flat.
On his latest podcast, Shaq was asked what he thinks about Kyrie Irving's recent comments saying the Earth is flat. To the shock of co-host John Kincade, Shaq flat-out says, "It's true. The Earth is flat. The Earth is flat. Yes, it is."
Shaq's evidence for the flat-Earth theory is that he can drive from one side of the United States to the other side and that he doesn't "go up and down at a 360-degree angle." He also cites Columbus not discovering America and that there is no way China "is under us."
Here is his entire argument, transcribed by Ben Rohrbach:
"It's true. The Earth is flat. The Earth is flat. Yes, it is. Listen, there are three ways to manipulate the mind - what you read, what you see and what you hear. In school, first thing they teach us is, 'Oh, Columbus discovered America,' but when he got there, there were some fair-skinned people with the long hair smoking on the peace pipes. So, what does that tell you? Columbus didn't discover America. So, listen, I drive from coast to coast, and this s--- is flat to me. I'm just saying. I drive from Florida to California all the time, and it's flat to me. I do not go up and down at a 360-degree angle, and all that stuff about gravity, have you looked outside Atlanta lately and seen all these buildings? You mean to tell me that China is under us? China is under us? It's not. The world is flat."
Again, it is possible Shaq is just having some fun with Irving's comments, but he does sound serious. Here are Shaq's comments, via Yahoo Sports: