Shaquille O’Neal’s theory on why the Earth is flat: ‘I flew 20 hours today…I didn’t tip over’

Los Angeles Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal is known as one of the most entertaining people in the NBA world. His larger-than-life personality has garnered lots of laughs from people all over the world.

He’s known as a jokester, but some people might not be laughing at some of his recent comments. The 50-year-old recently explained a theory as to why the Earth might be flat.

“For example, I flew 20 hours today,” O’Neal explained. “Not once did I go this way. I didn’t go straight. I didn’t tip over. I didn’t go upside down.”

After receiving some pushback for his comments, O’Neal continued explaining the theory.

“It’s still a straight line,” said O’Neal. “You don’t go under. It’s just a theory. Another theory, how they said the world is spinning? I’ve been living in a house on a lake for 30 years. Not once did the lake rotate to the left or rotate to the right.”

It’s definitely an interesting theory from O’Neal, but he might not receive too much support. This isn’t the first time O’Neal has talked about the Earth and its shape. During an episode of his podcast in 2017, O’Neal called the Earth flat.

“It’s true,” O’Neal said. “The Earth is flat. There’s three ways to manipulate the mind: What you read, what you see, and what you hear. In school, first thing they teach us, ‘Oh, Columbus discovered America.’ But when you got there, it was some fair-skinned people with long hair smoking on peace pipes. So what does that tell you?”

Many NBA fans will also remember when Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving, a player the Lakers have been linked to a lot this offseason, made headlines in 2017 when he said that he believed the Earth was flat.

Irving later apologized for his comments the following year.

People all over the world have debated whether or not the Earth is round or flat for a long time, and it’s surely a debate that will live on for many years.

According to the National Ocean Service, the Earth is actually closer to an ellipsoid despite its round appearance.

“While the Earth appears to be round when viewed from the vantage point of space, it is actually closer to an ellipsoid. However, even an ellipsoid does not adequately describe the Earth’s unique and ever-changing shape.

“Our planet is pudgier at the equator than at the poles by about 70,000 feet. This is due to the centrifugal force created by the earth’s constant rotation. Mountains rising almost 30,000 feet and ocean trenches diving over 36,000 feet (compared to sea level) further distort the shape of the Earth. Sea level itself is even irregularly shaped. Slight variations in Earth’s gravity field cause permanent hills and valleys in the ocean’s surface of over 300 feet relative to an ellipsoid.

“Additionally, the shape of the Earth is always changing. Sometimes this change is periodic, as is the case with daily tides that affect both the ocean and the crust; sometimes the change is slow and steady, as with the drift of tectonic plates or the rebound of the crust after a heavy sheet of ice has melted; and sometimes the shape of the planet changes in violent, episodic ways during events such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or meteor strikes.”

It will be interesting to see if O’Neal comments spark any heated debates within the NBA world.