Earlier this month, Tom Ziller hipped us to a possible Shaquille O'neal Twitter account. Eventually we found out that the Twitter account was fake, but that the real Shaq had decided to start his own account and join the Tweet party. Despite confirmation from Shaq's representatives that the real Shaq is now Twittering, there were some individuals that still didn't believe it. Not one to shy away from interacting with fans, Shaq set out to prove his doubters wrong with a simple phone call. Mashable.com has the scoop:
After first hearing about Shaq's presence on Twitter, Bryant Blount decided to follow him. A few hours later, much to Blount's surprise, Shaq followed him back. Skeptical, Blount tweeted "shaq has requested to follow me...boy is he gonna be disappointed."Anyhow, check out Mashable.com for the rest of the details. But basically, Shaq ends up calling this fan. This is what sets Shaq apart from other sports stars. Shaq really knows how to interact with fans and be a regular dude.
A bit later, he added "still 30% skeptical about shaq tweeting...will continue to investigate and report back with any new findings." Low and behold, Shaq responded at 1am (the guy doesn't appear to sleep based on his tweets), "LORD B, DNT B SKEPTICAL, ITS ME GIMME A NUMBER I WILL CALL U."
Outside of his battles with Kobe Bryant, Shaq has been a public relations darling (don't roll your eyes John Black). Especially when it comes to interacting with fans and the community. From his annual Shaq Christmas give aways, to paying for cop cars destroyed during the Lakers' championship celebration, Shaq just gets public relations. Heck, Shaq's not even one of the top players in the game anymore, yet he still probably one of the top 5 most covered individuals in the league. This is the kind of thing that will keep him relevant for years after he retires.
