Shaquille O’Neal won’t welch on a bet! The NBA player-turned-commentator was served a delicious plate of fried frog legs during NBA On TNT on Thursday, January 12. Shaq, 50, had made a wager with his co-host Ernie Johnson, promising to eat a frog if the University of Georgia Bulldogs beat the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs during their game on Monday, January 9. The UGA defeated TCU with a whopping 65-7 victory, and Shaq was treated to some Cuisses de grenouille.
The Big Fella is a man of his word 👀@SHAQ really ate frog legs to settle his bet with EJ 🐸 pic.twitter.com/jKCVYYaSyi
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) January 13, 2023
After the loss, Ernie walked out during Thursday’s broadcast with a serving plate and a UGA football helmet on to present Shaq with his meal. Once he lifted the lid, he saw that it was indeed, fried frog legs. “I’m a man of my word,” he said.
As he bit into them, Shaq grinned at the camera with a piece of the frog in his teeth and let everyone know that they were delicious. “I just want to let you all know, these frog legs are good. These are the best frog legs I done had ever,” he said, before clapping back at anyone who thought he’d back out. “You didn’t think I was going to do it, did you?”
Shaq had made the bet during an on-air discussion on Friday, January 6. He made a reference to the TCU mascot, as he put his wager on the Texas college. “If Georgia beats TCU, I’ll eat frogs. I’ll eat a horn frog,” he said, mentioning it had to be cooked and fried.
Since they seemed delicious, maybe frog legs will be a new part of Shaq’s diet. The NBA player revealed that he’d made major changes to his exercise and eating habits and lost 40 pounds in a late December interview with Entertainment Tonight. He revealed that his goal was to drop a total of 60 pounds and star in an underwear ad before his next birthday. He admitted that eating differently was a major factor in his weight loss. “It’s all about eating right. I got some blood work done,” he said. “I didn’t know what the difference between a carb and a protein, at 50 years old I never knew. So, he was saying you can’t do this, you can’t do that, more vegetables, my iron’s low. And once I just started changing those certain things, it dropped.”