Our man Shaq… popping up in unexpected locations and sending out random messages of support and inspiration. A local girls high school basketball team was on the receiving side of a pep talk live video call from Shaq! Surprised? You bet!
The call came in to the Oliver Ames High School girls basketball team just before they took the court for the Division 2 State Championship Game vs. Norwood High. The call came via a smartphone video call from the NBA legend himself.
In the video Shaq encourages the girls to go all the way. “To the Oliver Ames girls basketball team, you made it to the state finals, but we are not done,” Shaq smiled. “You know what you gotta do. The task is not done. Let’s get it done.” You can check out the full video below.
Team member Hailey Bourne is a senior and the team’s captain. Needless to say, she was surprised: “From Shaq it was crazy. Everyone was going crazy. I immediately sent it to my family. They thought it was fake, they thought it was a Cameo,” Bourne said. “I said no it’s real. He knows who we are.”
Another member of the team, co-captain / starting guard Caroline Pepper says she will keep it on her phone forever. “He knew that we could do it,” Pepper said. “We just needed everyone else to believe in it too and I think that because he said it everyone on the team knew.”
Even the team’s coach was impressed. Very impressed. Head coach Laney Clement-Holbrook told a local TV station she’s been coaching for 46 years and said Shaq’s talk was the best she’s seen or heard. “The first words were ‘Oliver Ames basketball you are playing for the championship.’ And I was like this is Shaq… how did he get involved?”
So, you’re probably wondering how O’Neal got connected to this particular team… we are! Well, in the video, Shaq does a little shout-out to another team member, senior shooting guard Sophia Krinsky. Her father works for Reebok, and is a friend with the former NBA All-Star.
“He was saying good luck to our team and for the state championship,” Krinsky said. “It meant a lot because my dad is my best friend, so he’ll do anything to make me happy and he knows I love basketball and I love Shaq.”
Needless to say, Shaq’s inspiring message paid off. The Tigers (same mascot as Shaq’s former college team, LSU) went on to win the championship game, which was also followed up by a post-game video by Shaq singing “We are the Champions.”
“It really shows how special he is and how funny he is,” Bourne said.
It’s been 12 years since these girls have won a championship. Seven of the seniors are now graduating and moving on so they are glad to go out on top. And the message they got from Shaq will last a lifetime.
“I will cherish it forever,” Krinsky said. “Because honestly I think that’s one of the key elements, was that video that really brought us together.”
Thanks to TV station WBZ / CBS4 in Boston for the info and video.