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"I really wanted to fight him" - Danny Green recalls Shaq's prank that almost escalated
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- "I really wanted to fight him" - Danny Green recalls Shaq's prank that almost escalated
Anybody who has been fortunate enough to share the locker room with Shaquille O'Neal testifies to how big a clown and prankster he is. From running around bare naked and wrestling teammates to showing others the toilet paper that he wiped his behind with to infamously rubbing Lou Amundson's mouthpiece on his privates, O'Neal was definitely a handful to deal with.
Danny Green learned this firsthand during his rookie season when O'Neal pulled a prank on him on Christmas Day that got him so mad he even thought about fighting the 7'1" behemoth.
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Don't mess with a starving man's plate
Christmas Day is supposed to be filled with cheer and glee. However, during his rookie season in 2009-10, Green and the Cleveland Cavaliers were in Los Angeles to face Kobe Bryant and the Lakers .
Being a rookie on a team filled with veterans, Green barely played. Nevertheless, he put in a lot of work that day to keep himself sharp.
From completing shooting drills to running up and down the steps of the arena, Green was determined to make the most of that day. Being a rookie also meant he could only eat after his older teammates had gotten their plates. This meant that by the time he had his meal ready, Green was already starving. But little did he know, O'Neal had something else in store for him.
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"I get my waffle cooked up all nice, buttered up, cut it up, you know what I'm saying, sit down," Green narrated . "Big man comes over, and as I'm taking a bite — he takes the waffle right out of my hands."
"And I was starving. I was really hungry. And then he saw in my face how mad and upset I was, disappointed. He tried to come back later and bring me some pancakes," he continued. "I was like, 'Bro, I don't want no pancakes, man. I wanted the damn waffle.'"
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Green was furious
Everyone knows how frustrating it is to have your food taken. Green was so hungry, he almost wanted to fight O'Neal instead of exchanging gifts.
"The one time that I got mad at him that I really wanted to fight him. I thought about it. I was smart enough not to do it, but I was that mad. And I was like, 'Son of a b—ch.' I just had to take the L and walk away," he recalled.
Green said that, despite how mean O'Neal was at the moment, the big man realized he was in the wrong and apologized. In fact, the Hall of Famer still apologizes to Danny for that incident whenever they meet.
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"I was hungry. I had to wait. I did a bunch of workouts and we had to run stairs. Back then, we used to run stadiums and stuff like that. I'm starving. I come back, cut and butter up my waffle, nice syrup and everything. He just snatched that joint so fast," Green reminisced about that not-so-amusing moment as a rookie.
Such is the life of a rookie in the NBA. And unfortunately for Green, he not only had to deal with rookie hazing but also endure it from someone like O'Neal.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Jan 31, 2026, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
