Inside Shaquille O'Neal's Larger-Than-Life World

 

Welcome to the house that Shaq built. Before you can experience all that “Shaq-a-pulco” has to offer, you must first be able to answer a couple of very key questions:

If Shaq were a painter what would he be called?

(Answer: Shaq-casso.)

How about a pro golfer?

(Answer: Shaq-Nicolson.)

“You give me any situation and I’ll give you a Shaq name,” he told “ Good Morning America” anchor Robin Roberts.

Knowing, or at least guessing, the answers to “Shaq-isms” like these are a must if you plan on spending the day with a certain 7-foot, recently retired NBA legend who calls a 76,000 square foot sprawling mansion, set on a lovely lake in Orlando, Fla., home. (Don’t reach for your reading glasses. There really are four zeros after the seven.)

Just imagine for a moment what you would do if you had a 20,000 square-foot basketball court in your basement, thirty sports cars resembling an actual car dealership in the garage, and a life-size Superman statue greeting fellow boaters on your dock. Personally, I would never leave my house.

“Good Morning America” anchor Robin Roberts flew down to the Shaq-cave for an exclusive interview with the legend and got a rare glimpse behind the gates of Playa de Shaq.

Shaq thrives on flipping people’s expectations of him and offers revealing account of what life is really like inside his size 23 shoes, in his new book,  “Shaq Uncut.”

PHOTOS: Robin Roberts Takes You Inside Shaq's World

As Robin sat in his mammoth living room for the interview, he shared stories that he’s never discussed publicly before, from his volatile relationship with former Laker teammate Kobe Bryant, to his painful divorce and the costly aftermath, and why he will no longer answer to Shaquille O’Neal but simply Dr. O’Neal.

Even the new woman in his life jumped in on the action. Her name is Nicole Alexander, but reality TV fans may recognize her by her nom-de-plume, Hoopz, from a couple of signature VH1 reality shows like “Flavor of Love.”

After the no holds barred interview, Robin, a soon -to-be inductee into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, faced off  against the 15 time NBA All-Star on his 20,000-foot Shaq Center home court. We can’t officially give you the results yet, although we can issue one spoiler, turns out size may not matter after all.

 

Watch “Nightline” at 11:35 p.m. ET for more on the real life of this larger than life icon. 

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