The Winter Olympics have been huge this year, with eyes across the US and the rest of the world glued to Milan, even as the NBA season continues. Given that, it only makes sense that Inside the NBA took what was relevant and put their own twist on it, this time giving Shaquille O’Neal an experience to remember.

In a clip widely circulated online, O’Neal was given a partner from the studio staff, a board, and a small ramp in front of the screen to perform the doubles luge. After much laughing as he attempted to push the slide off the stage, O’Neal slid all over the studio floor with his legs extended and arms tucked, trying his best to simulate the high-speed ice event.

Obviously, things didn’t go well. O’Neal, laughing extremely hard, wobbled, drifted, and almost spun out, and the entire crew lost it, with the former Los Angeles Lakers center being helped off the floor by staff.

While this might have looked like just another thematic sketch on Inside, this wasn’t entirely random. Just a few days ago, O’Neal, who was attending the Winter Olympics as an ambassador for Team USA’s Athlete Recovery Program in partnership with Lily, publicly said that he’d love to compete in the luge during an interview with Today.

“Oh, curling, all day… and the Luge,” he said back then.

That’s how you end up with a 7’1″ Hall of Famer sliding across a television studio floor. Unfortunately for him, the luge is probably the least forgiving sport for someone of his stature.

In the event, athletes lie flat on their backs and race down an ice track at speeds reaching upwards of 90 miles per hour, steering with subtle shifts in shoulder positioning and leg pressure.

Shaquille O’Neal’s Luge Experiment From Milan to the Studio Floor

Shaquille O’Neal has been immersed heavily in the Olympic energy, especially with his ambassadorial duties for Team USA. He’s been soaking in the Milano Cortina 2026 atmosphere, where he was spotted sightseeing, joking with fans, and enjoying the winter sports culture. However, he didn’t waste any chance to throw some humorous shade at longtime frenemy Charles Barkley.

When asked about who between the two of them would win in a luge race, O’Neal didn’t take himself, saying, “I would have to give it to Barkley … because of his aero belly dynamics.”

He has also said that the people in Milan have been extremely hospitable, joking that people have either no idea who he is or recognize him as “the world’s greatest curler.”

Now that O’Neal has officially tested his luge form on national television, perhaps a round 2 in the studio involving Chuck isn’t much further away. It probably won’t involve ice at all, but everything’s fair game within the Atlanta studio.