The NBA season is finishing up – the Championship Series is two games in, at the time of this writing. TNT’s “Inside the NBA” is done for the year, with the crew off and doing whatever they do for the summer.
For Shaq, we know he’s staying busy. We’ve seen him in courtside seats in Boston for Game Two against the Dallas Mavs, and he’s on some of the NBA TV pre- and post-game shows. But there’s more to the big man’s summer plans than just hoops!
This summer, we’ve got a new show to check out, streaming on Amazon’s Prime TV channel. Seems out man Shaq has gotten himself a semi-regular part on the New York gangster series “Gravesend.” The show is directed by William DeMeo, who also is one of the top stars of the series.
Gravesend is set in Brooklyn, New York in the 1980’s, and tells the stories of Benny Zerletta (played on the show by DeMeo). He’s said to be a “soldier” in the fictional Colezzo crime family. Along with the regular cops-and-bad-guys action, Zerletta also faces the challenges of trying to maintain “regular” family life, and also growing up in the footsteps of his cousin. Just so happens the cousin is the leader of the family’s criminal organization.
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So where does O’Neal land in all this? The 52 year-old Shaq is cast this season as the character “Mustafa,” the big (Shaq-sized!) and powerful man who runs the less-than-legal business operations in another Brooklyn, Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Just this past weekend, when he wasn’t up north in Boston for the NBA Finals, O’Neal was spotted right there in Brooklyn, at a car repair shop on Neptune Avenue, filming a few of his scenes. Along with Shaq, fellow rappers Peter Gunz and Maino were also on set for some of the action.
Along with Shaq, another former sports star turned actor – Pittsburgh Steelers player James Harrison – is also coming to the show as a new character. Insiders say the plot line this season will focus on how the two gangs – one led by Shaq, the other by DeMeo, will come together…and all the sparks and drama that comes with that, no doubt!
Of course, our man Shaq never (Never!) goes unnoticed wherever he travels, and this day was no different. One source reported, “The day started with Shaq doing a scene on the roof. . . The crowds in the streets were stopping… screaming for him, cars were honking, ambulances, fire trucks were sounding off sirens as they witnessed him in action.”
Not sure how they got any real filming done in that kind of atmosphere, but we’re sure it all worked out OK. After the shots were completed, the big man did take some time to sign autographs for fans.
Along with Shaq, there’s plenty of big-name talent on this show. We’ll admit, it’s flown under our radar here at the offices of the ShaqFu Radio blog, but now we’ll definitely be checking it out! Along with DeMeo, there have been (or will be this upcoming season) appearances by “Rocky” star Talia Shire and “The Sopranos” stars Vincent Curatola and Dominic Chianese.
Even with all the fictional stuff going on in front of the camera, the “Gravesend” cast and crew have also been real-life heroes as well. Several cast and crew members were part of the rescue of a 14-year-old boy who got pinned under a car when an accident happened just a block from where filming was happening.
Of course this isn’t the first time our man Shaq has appeared on-screen, either movie-sized or TV-sized. O’Neal has starred in films including “Kazaam” and “Scary Movie 4.” This summer, he’s hosting and also doing behind-the-scenes production work for a new game show called “Lucky 13” on the ABC network.