Shaquille O’Neal still isn’t convinced the Earth is round, especially since his plane recently “flew straight ahead” instead of diagonally.
“It’s a theory, it’s just a theory, they teach us a lot of things,” O’Neal responded when asked on “The Kyle & Jackie O Show” whether he stood up to comments he made about Earth in 2017 which is flat.
He then used his recent flight from the US to Australia as an example to support his scientific theories.
“I flew 20 hours today, not once have I gone this way,” he said, gesturing diagonally with his arm. “I flew straight,” before adding that it “didn’t tip over” or “went upside down” during the trip.
Radio host Kyle Sandiland asked how someone could fly in different directions to the other side of the world.
“It’s still a straight line,” opined the former athlete, 50, “you’re not going down.”
The NBA legend — who has no science degrees — also shared his doubts about whether the Earth really spins.
“You know they say the world turns? I’ve lived on a lake house for 30 years, not once has it turned left or right,” he explained.
O’Neal added that he likes to listen to theories: “It’s not about figuring them out, either he’s wrong or he’s right — it’s just a theory.”
The former Miami Heat player has spoken about his flat-Earth theories before when he chatted with co-host John Kincade on “The Big Podcast with Shaq,” saying, “It’s true. The Earth is flat.”
“Listen, there are three ways to manipulate the mind — what you read, what you see and what you hear,” he said. “At school they first teach us, ‘Oh, Columbus discovered America,’ but when he got there, there were a few light-skinned, long-haired people smoking the peace pipes. So what does that tell you? Columbus did not discover America.”
He continued, “I drive from coast to coast, and this s–t is flat for me. I’m just saying. I drive from Florida to California all the time, and it’s flat for me. I’m not going up and down 360 degrees, and all this gravity stuff, have you been looking outside of Atlanta lately and seeing all these buildings? You want to tell me that China is below us? China among us? It’s not. The world is flat.”
However, in a later interview, O’Neal seemingly waived his theories.
“The Earth is flat,” he told The Washington Post. “Do you want to hear my theory? The first part of the theory is, I’m kidding, idiots.
“So know that when Shaquille O’Neal says something, I’m humorous 80 percent of the time, and it’s a joke. And 20 percent of the time, I’m serious. But if I’m serious, you’ll know.”
O’Neal is currently in Australia – otherwise known as the Land Down Under – for a speaking engagement.