Why Shaq has held a 25year grudge against Larry David Marina WattsThu, June 11, 2026 at 6:25 PM UTC 2 Shaquille O'Neal at the FIFA World Cup Official Draw in 2025; Larry David at SXSW in MarchCredit: Emilee Chinn FIFA/FIFA via Getty; Mike Jordan/SXSW Conference & Festivals via GettyKey Points Shaquille O&x27;Neal has held a grudge against Larry David since appearing on Curb Your Enthusiasm 25 years ago. The NBA superstar played himself in a 2001 episode that saw Larry accidentally trip him during a Los Angeles Lakers&x27; game. "I don&x27;t like him.
Why Shaq has held a 25-year grudge against Larry David
Marina WattsThu, June 11, 2026 at 6:25 PM UTC
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Shaquille O'Neal at the FIFA World Cup Official Draw in 2025; Larry David at SXSW in MarchCredit: Emilee Chinn - FIFA/FIFA via Getty; Mike Jordan/SXSW Conference & Festivals via GettyKey Points -
Shaquille O'Neal has held a grudge against Larry David since appearing on Curb Your Enthusiasm 25 years ago.
The NBA superstar played himself in a 2001 episode that saw Larry accidentally trip him during a Los Angeles Lakers' game.
"I don't like him. He tripped me," Shaq declared during the NBA Finals game on Wednesday night.
It appears that Shaquille O'Neal still has beef with Larry David.
The Curb Your Enthusiasmstar sat courtside during Wednesday night's New York Knicks victory over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 4 of the NBA Finals. When the broadcast panel pointed out David's presence at Madison Square Garden, Shaq said, "I don't like him, he tripped me."
Shaq was seemingly referring to a classic 2001 episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm in which Shaq trips over David's feet during a Los Angeles Lakers game.
In the season 2 episode, aptly titled "Shaq," Larry and Richard Lewis attend the Lakers' home opener, taking Jeff Green's (Jeff Garlin) tickets for the night. Larry trips and injures the NBA legend after stretching his legs out onto the court during the game. Shaq is taken out of the game, and Larry is viciously booed, insisting it was an accident.
Everyone then avoids Larry for injuring Shaq, which he finds refreshing, allowing him to evade all obligations.
"Apparently, no one wants to have anything to do with me because of the Shaq thing," Larry says after the incident. His onscreen wife, Cheryl (Cheryl Hines), calls the situation "sad." Larry feels otherwise. "What, are you kidding?" he asks, overjoyed by his newfound solitude.
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Later in the episode, Larry visits Shaq in the hospital, delivering SeinfeldVHS tapes and makes up with the athlete, who finds out his injury wasn't season-ending after all.
Shortly after, things shift back to normal for Larry. He gets a parking ticket while visiting Shaq in the hospital, and finds out that the doctor who checked a spot on his skin was actually a patient in the psychiatric unit.
Larry David and Shaquille O'Neal on 'Curb Your Enthusiasm'Credit: HBO
The Knicks face off against the Spurs in San Antonio for Game 5 on Saturday evening.
Curb Your Enthusiasm is available to stream on HBO.
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: "AOL Entertainment"
Source: Entertainment
Published: June 12, 2026 at 01:00AM on Source: PRIME TIME
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