Shaquille O’Neal Reveals Why He’ll Never Join ‘Dancing With the Stars’

Dancing with the Stars is known for gathering some top-tier, A-list celebrities to be a part of their cast — however, Shaquille O’Neal will not be one of them. Recently, the former NBA player gave reasoning behind why he wouldn’t be on the show, noting how he likes to be on the ground floor of new projects rather than stepping in at a later time. To fans’ surprise, he also admitted he doesn’t have the “courage” to participate in something like this after cheering on former NBA star Charles Oakley this season.

“I can’t do it, yeah, I wouldn’t do it now,” he revealed according to Us Weekly. “I like being the innovator. If it was Season 1, I would do it. But I can’t do it in Season 2 [or after].” Over the years, several athletes have competed, including Emmitt Smith, Apolo Anton Ohno, Shawn Johnson, Jerry Rice, and most recently, Charles Oakley. O’Neal cheered Oakley on up until he was eliminated in Week 2. Although Oakley didn’t make it far, O’Neal still had some great things to say about the former professional basketball player.

“I thought his feet work was pretty nice,” O’Neal said. “He looked really good at something that they’d been wanting me to do for a while, but I don’t have enough discipline and courage to do it.” He added, “[Charles] looks really good. Now, he was always a guy that stayed in shape and it was really good and his outfit and his hips are still working really good.” In fact, last month, O’Neal even posted to his Instagram his support for Oakley and partner Emma Slater saying, “You kno who to vote for @therealoak34 had some great feetwork.” Slater later tweeted, “I’m about to faint over here @SHAQ just posted for @CharlesOakley34 on #DWTS Wow! Thank you Shaq!”

So far, this season has been a wild ride for fans with so many changes all at once. Not only has this year presented new challenges given the coronavirus and its role in how production is handled, but after Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews weren’t asked back as hosts, many were wondering where the show would go after that situation. However, while new host Tyra Banks received a load of criticism from angry fans, she’s proving week by week she was made for this role. Not only does she have plenty of supporters, but the judges and dancers all love her and have shown their public support.