Before the legendary athletes became friends, Shaquille O’Neal was a little jealous of David Beckham!
The retired basketball star, 51, and the soccer player, 48, attended Sports Illustrated-hosted the Club SI party at the Las Vegas Grand Prix on Saturday — where O’Neal joked that he once had a one-sided rivalry with Beckham.
Speaking exclusively to PEOPLE at the Formula 1 (F1) race, O’Neal joked that he was once “jealous” of Beckham, but now that he knows the soccer star — and his family — well, he thinks he’s a “great guy.” ”
David Beckham has a stylish night out with son Cruz at a party during the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix
“I was always jealous of him,” the NBA legend tells PEOPLE, explaining that it was “professional jealousy,” because he “wanted to be the highest-paid athlete ever,” and at the time, Beckham, whom O’Neal didn’t know, was a lot earned.
However, once the legendary players met, O’Neal changed his tune.
“And then I finally met him and he was a cool guy,” he says. “And if you’ve never seen his documentary [Netflix’s Beckham], you should watch it. I didn’t know he had to go through all that too, but it just shows you how great he is, how he persevered through all that stuff.”
Shaquille O’Neal (left) and David Beckham at the Sports Illustrated Club SI event at the F1 Grand Prix.
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He continues: “I know his wife, I know his kids, and again, even though I’m Shaq, I’m not Shaq, I’m just a regular person. So the fact that I have David Beckham’s number, Tom Brady’s number on my phone … [it] it can’t be bigger than that.”
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Also in Saturday’s race won by Dutch driver Max Verstappen. O’Neal revealed that he doesn’t follow F1 racing, but wishes all the drivers a “successful race” — and “no crashes.”
The basketball star also shared the moment that made him change his mind about motorcycle racing.
“I had a performance a long time ago, Shaq vs., and I raced with Dale Earnhardt Jr. But before that I said these guys are not athletes,” he tells PEOPLE. “But after I drove the car … it wasn’t even a real race. We had a small track, but I was the most tired in my life.”
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Since calming down his jealousy of Beckham, O’Neal has been spending a lot of time with the football star and his family – sons Brooklyn (24), Romeo (21), Cruz (18) and daughter Harper (12).
In 2018, when Victoria Beckham and her fashion brand joined forces for a collection with Reebok, she hired O’Neal.
The former Spice Girl, 49, said the line was inspired by Reebok’s heritage and iconic style from the ’90s, where O’Neal — a longtime Reebok ambassador and one of the era’s biggest stars — came on the scene.
“I had a lot of fun tonight when Shaq welcomed me into the Reebok family. The merch collection is really a celebration of him, the ’90s and Reebok’s heritage,” said Victoria at the 2018 Sportswear Collaboration event.
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At that time, the fashion designer also shared a photo of herself and O’Neal in which she was supposed to be standing on top of a wooden box to reduce their large height difference, and a video of herself “dunking” from the top of the basketball star’s shoulder.
Her football star husband also snapped a picture with O’Neal which he shared on Instagram.
“Me and the big man at a casual dinner… Always amazing to be in the presence of a true legend @shaq @lakers 💜💛,” he captioned the snap.
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Source: HIS Education