How the Wayans family landed Shaquille O’Neal’s most precious $50K NBA possession

Renowned actor Damon Wayans made an intriguing revelation regarding former NBA player Shaquille O'Neal on his podcast.

How the Wayans family landed Shaquille O’Neal’s most precious $50K NBA possession

Damon Wayans and Shaquille O'Neal

Damon Wayans and his siblings established the Wayans name in Hollywood as co-creators of the renowned television program “In Living Color.” During Shaquille O’Neal‘s time as a Los Angeles Laker, they developed a strong bond with him. This was because they were such pillars of their community. Wayans was the guest on the most recent episode of The Big Podcast, which honored that friendship.

Interestingly, Wayans revealed an interesting story regarding Shaquille O’Neal‘s ‘three-peat championship ring’ on the podcast. During their talk, Wayans disclosed that Shaq had given him one of his championship rings. O’Neal was a Los Angeles icon. Also, he was well-connected in the film industry.

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He famously gave the comedian/actor a championship ring in appreciation for helping him improve his free-throw shooting. Damon Wayans said, “I got a beautiful three-peat ring, I’ve never worn it, it’s that special.”

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Shaq’s podcast co-host, Adam Lefkoe, pressed the 15-time All-Star to explain how he gave Wayans the ring. O’Neal claimed that whenever he used to miss free throws, ‘Damon used to give it to him.’ So, O’Neal used to give his ‘favorite people’ a token of appreciation whenever he played a good game, resulting in the former Laker giving the Wayans an estimated $50k ring.

However, the ring’s actual value is around $30- 50k. Also, the value would fluctuate if it were to go to an auction. O’Neal also revealed that the Wayans were one of the main reasons he would ‘laugh.’ ‘Diesel’ keeps a tight bond with the whole Wayans family because of this.

Marlon Wayans once won $20k from Shaquille O’Neal on his podcast show

Damon’s brother, Marlon Wayans, appeared as a guest on The Big Podcast in September 2024. Though things would not go well for the Hall of Famer, Shaq seized the chance to compete against the renowned actor in a trivia match. At first, Marlon put a bet with O’Neal regarding his favorite Wayans’ sibling for $10,000. Marlon guessed it right at the first attempt as he named their elder sister, Kim Wayans.

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Diesel, however, wasn’t happy with the trivia’s results, so he challenged his guest with a double-or-nothing question. He asked Marlon to predict which of Kim’s movie scene O’Neal liked best. The actor was fairly certain of his response once more.

Marlon Wayans said, “In the song ‘I’m Gonna Get You Sucka,’ she was singing.” Another guess was a scene from Kim’s movie. Marlon then said, “Alright, when she says, ‘Not my baby, Lord, take me instead.’”

The second of his two guesses—a famous part Kim Wayans performed in a sketch from “In Living Color”—was the accurate one. The former NBA player ultimately admitted defeat and owed his guest $20,000 at the end of the show.