As we’re currently in the last games of the NBA finals, it seems like an appropriate time to reminisce about that one time I met Shaq at a Denny’s restaurant.
The year was 2002. Shaquille O’Neal was a pretty big deal. I mean, he’s still a pretty big deal but this is the same year he was named NBA Finals MVP for the third straight year. Shaq played for the LA Lakers at this point in his career, and after a 7-game series, they had beaten the Sacramento Kings and won the Western Conference Finals.
The date – May 27, 2002 – was a Monday. I was a student at UC Davis, and when you’re in college, sometimes you have nothing better to do on a Monday evening than round up your friends and head to the Scandia Family Fun Center in nearby Sacramento. The group of us played a game of mini-golf and raced some go-carts, then decided we were hungry. The nice folks at Scandia had given us a 10% off coupon to Denny’s with our mini-golf purchase, and it was right next door, so the choice was obvious.
As we walk in to the mostly-empty restaurant, we notice a man and a woman sitting at the booth along the far wall. One of my friends does a double-take at the man.
“I THINK THAT’S SHAQUILLE O’NEAL” she stage-whispers to the rest of us.
“OMG, no,” I reply, “Why on earth would Shaq be eating at a random Denny’s in North Sacramento? And where’s his entourage? Can’t be.”
So the group of us sit at a booth across the restaurant, which also conveniently puts us in line-of-sight to potential Shaq.
We spend the entire meal debating the the finer points of why we believe he is – or is not- Shaq.
Things that made him possibly Shaq included his shoe size, his physical appearance, and the fact that the Lakers recently finished their series against the Kings, so he did have reason to be in town. Things that made him possibly not-Shaq included why he would be eating practically alone, at a casual restaurant, on a random Monday night, in one of the more run-down areas of town.
He finished eating, and stood up to leave.
If you’ve ever been in the same room as someone who is 7’1″ tall, you’ll know what I mean when I say: He stood up and it removed any doubt that the man was, indeed, Shaquille O’Neal.
As this point, he is very graciously shaking hands with a some of the Denny’s staff, and he signs a few autographs. On his way out the door my friend, the one who originally did the double-take, says to him,
“Excuse me, Shaq? I just have to say, I’ve been trying to convince my friends this whole meal that it was really you!” He kind of smiles and nods at us as he walks out the door.
One of my other friends snorts at her, “Do you realize that YOU JUST TRIED TO TELL SHAQ THAT HE IS SHAQ. I’m pretty sure he knows.”
We find out from our server afterwards that he paid $100 on a $19 check and told his waiter to keep the change.
Our group thought this was very nice of him, but it also sparked a new debate. Why was his bill only $19? Doesn’t someone of his size and stature, and an athlete no less who just played a grueling basketball series – need more food?
One of my other friends suggests that perhaps he was just getting “a snack.”
“It was a SHAQ SNACK!” someone else shouts, and we all dissolve into fits of laughter.
