A candid video of Shaquille O’Neal playing with kids at the pool has the internet saying, “Aww!” During a trip to Honolulu, the former NBA star was enjoying some rest and relaxation when he met a group of young fans and decided to brighten their day. Although the water was around waist-level for the 7’1″ man, he pretended that he was drowning and needed help. The children rushed to save the celebrity, banding together to try and lift him out of the water. Finally, Shaq stood up and gave the kids high-fives as a thank you for “saving” him.
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This adorable moment was captured on camera by onlooker and Shaq fan Daniel Chavez, who posted some of the videos on TikTok. Unsurprisingly, the original clip quickly reached 1 million views. In a follow-up video, Daniel posted footage of the athlete-turned-sports-analyst hanging out with his new friends after the heroic rescue.
“Update: after CPR, the kids were able to revive Shaq,” the TikTok user joked.
Fans were absolutely delighted to see the basketball legend being such a softie, but Daniel says in a later video that he was initially hesitant to record the interaction.
“Part of me was like, hmm, should I film this?” he said. “Or, no. 2, should I just enjoy the moments? No. 3, I’m like, he’s relaxing, he’s on vacation, why am I gonna bother this guy’s privacy? But the journalist in me said, ‘No. No, this guy’s being real right now, he’s being such a cool guy. I’m sure people would love to see this side of him.'”
This wasn’t the only time that Daniel caught a glimpse of Shaquille O’Neal during the celebrity’s stay in Hawaii. Previously, he’d attended a concert where Shaq was the DJ. TMZ tells us that this gig was the reason the star was visiting the island in the first place.
Of course, the most important moment for Daniel was when he actually got to meet Shaq in person at the hotel lobby. Not only did the star agree to take a picture with him, but he was also reportedly a great sport about it.
“He was so humble. He even put his hand on my shoulder,” said Daniel. “I was freaking out!”
Watch the original video of Shaq getting “rescued” below.
You can find the source of this story’s featured image here.
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