You have to give credit to Shaquille O'Neal for trying to speak to Mavs superstar Luka Doncic in his native tongue. Unfortunately, it did not go too well for Shaq as he butchered his Slovenian farewell to Luka.
Here's Shaq doing his best to make his guest feel comfortable in a recent NBA on TNT interview (h/t NBA on TNT on Twitter):
.@SHAQ tried to say goodbye to Luka in Slovenian 😅 pic.twitter.com/eKv6E10vvv
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 23, 2021
To clear things up, “goodbye” in Slovenian is “adijo.” We're sure because we Google'd it. Shaq must have done the same thing too, but unfortunately for him, he was not able to learn the word's proper pronunciation.
Article Continues BelowIt put a big smile on the Mavs guard's face though, as he respectfully corrected O'Neal as the interview ended. It's the thought that counts, I guess.
This is not the first time O'Neal has been tongue-tied during a broadcast. One hilarious moment that comes to mind was when he butchered Victor Oladipo's name. The Big Diesel really struggled with Oladipo's name and as expected, it had his co-hosts (and the viewers) laughing.
Doncic meanwhile, was coming off a big game on Friday, leading the Mavs to a win over the Los Angeles Lakers. The Slovenian dropped a team-high 30 points.
Back to Shaq. Clearly, his previous blunders aren't going to stop him from trying to learn a couple of words in foreign languages. He just added a Slovenian word to his vocabulary and although he was a bit embarrassed on national television, the fact still remains that O'Neal was able to showcase his rich acumen in speaking a foreign tongue. Either that or he was just really funny. If you ask me, it definitely works both ways.