Why Shaquille O'Neal Stands By His Theory That the World Is Flat

Shaquille O’Neal stood by his 2017 comments about believing that the Earth is flat. See why the former NBA star thinks the planet is not round below.

By Tamantha Gunn Aug 26, 2022 9:12 PMTags
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Shaquille O'Neal is still not ready to accept that the Earth is round.

On Aug. 23, the NBA legend, 50, reaffirmed his support for the theory that the Earth is flat when asked whether he still believed his controversial 2017 comments.

"It's a theory," he said during an appearance on the Kyle & Jackie O Show. "It's just a theory, they teach us a lot of things."

Shaq then doubled down on his claims, sharing that he "flew straight" from the United States to Australia right before appearing on the radio show. "I flew 20 hours today, not once did I go this way," he explained, before adding that his plane "didn't tip over" or "go upside down" during the trip.

Pushing back on the theory, host Kyle Sandiland questioned how someone could fly to the other side of the world in different directions, to which Shaq replied, "It's still a straight line, you don't go under."

Not only does Shaq have different opinions about the shape of the planet, but he also states that he doesn't believe it spins. 

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"You know they say the world is spinning?" he asked Kyle and his radio co-host Jackie Henderson. "I've been living on a house on a lake for 30 years, not once did the lake rotate to the left or right. If we're spinning so fast, why are we dizzy?" 

Shaq admitted that while he likes listening to these different beliefs, "it's not about figuring them out, or he's wrong or he's right—it's just a theory."

This isn't the first time that the former Los Angeles Lakers star has publicly shared his thoughts about Earth being flat. After NBA star Kyrie Irving declared that globes were falsely portraying the planet in Feb. 2017, Shaq publicly backed his theory.

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"I drive from coast to coast, and this s--t is flat to me," Shaq noted on The Big Podcast With Shaq in 2017. "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."

Shaq later recanted his comments, telling The Washington Post in March 2017 that he was "joking."

"Would you like to hear my theory?" he told the outlet. "The first part of the theory is, I'm joking, you idiots. So, know that when Shaquille O'Neal says something, 80 percent of the time I'm being humorous, and it is a joke. And 20 percent of the time, I'm being serious. But when I'm being serious, you'll know."