To most athletes, any medal, not to mention an Olympic gold medal, is a badge of honor they proudly show of their trophy case. Nonetheless, Shaquille O’Neal is not large on sentimental worth.
On the newest “Large Podcast,” the Corridor of Famer revealed he threw away his 1996 Olympic gold medal on his trip residence from the Georgia Dome — the venue of Crew USA’s gold medal sport in opposition to Yugoslavia.
“Within the gold medal sport, Lenny Wilkens [Team USA head coach] says, ‘Hey, that is in all probability David Robinson’s final sport [for Team USA] so he’ll get extra minutes,” O’Neal recalled. “I mentioned, ‘Cool. I will not blame him.’ However he did not play me in any respect.
“I used to be so pissed off that, after the ceremony, I drove residence in my uniform and I threw the goddamn medal out of the window.”
When requested to make clear if he received again possession of the medal, O’Neal mentioned, “No. I threw it away on the freeway.”
