Shaquille O'Neal Best Athlete-Rapper?

Athletes and rappers have always interacted and there have been several athletes who have recorded songs and/or made appearances on hip-hop records. Even Snoop Dogg got into the debate of who is the best athlete who raps last month when he christened NBA Hall of Famer, Shaquille O’Neal the “greatest NBA rapper of all time.” The seven-foot sports commentator agrees.

TMZ spoke to Shaq about who is the best athlete-rapper out here. With the likes of Damian Lillard, Iman Shupert, and Antonio Brown in and out of the studio, could any of them make that claim?

Shaq does not hold his tongue by proclaiming that he is the absolute best athlete-rapper. The debate has been renewed due to the latest song that featured Shaq being released several weeks ago, “3 Locos.” Shaq Diesel (which is his hip-hop moniker) appeared as a guest on the song done by Coyote, which consists of rappers, Ladies Love Guapo and Ricky Blanco.

“It’s all competition for me. So when I hear other people that say, ‘Oh, I’m a better athlete-rapper than Shaq,’ I gotta step up,” Shaq tells the media outlet. “Nothing personal. I just gotta let these people know who paved the way.”

While acknowledging that he never really pursued a career in hip-hop, he flatly states that “there wasn’t enough money in that game for me.” This makes sense since he makes millions off endorsements and business deals without having to step into a recording booth.

But, his love for music doesn’t prevent him from making music.

Although many people who listen to hip-hop may agree with his assessment, he did give props to some of the athletes who have chosen to make records.

“When people say they’re better than Diesel, that means you want to compete. I just like competing. So I put stuff out, they put stuff out, and we let the people decide who the number one is. I know who the number one is. I’ma always say myself,” he said. “They got a lot of guys that are coming. Dame Lillard‘s really nice. Iman Shumpert can go. Antonio Brown can go. All these guys can go. It’s all about competition.”

Coyote group member, Blanco had previously stated that there is another song they recorded with Shaq that will soon see the light of day. We haven’t heard or seen the last of Shaq grabbing the mic for the purpose of dropping lyrics instead of dropping basketball knowledge on TNT.

Shaquille O’Neal Proclaims to be Best Athlete-Rapper: ‘I Know Who the Number One Is’