To most athletes, any medal, let alone an Olympic gold medal, is a badge of honor they proudly display in their trophy case. However, Shaquille O’Neal isn’t big on sentimental value.
On the latest “Big Podcast,” the Hall of Famer revealed he threw away his 1996 Olympic gold medal on his ride home from the Georgia Dome — the venue of Team USA’s gold medal game against Yugoslavia.
“In the gold medal game, Lenny Wilkens [Team USA head coach] says, ‘Hey, this is probably David Robinson’s last game [for Team USA] so he’s going to get more minutes,” O’Neal recalled. “I said, ‘Cool. I won’t blame him.’ But he didn’t play me at all.
“I was so pissed off that, after the ceremony, I drove home in my uniform and I threw the goddamn medal out of the window.”
When asked to clarify if he got back possession of the medal, O’Neal said, “No. I threw it away on the highway.”
