Shaquille O'Neal Would Stay Up Until 4 A.M., Drink Pineapple Soda, And Nap So He Could Dominate In Games

If you think Shaquille O’Neal’s had a pregame that resembled anything a normal human being would do, think again.

The four-time NBA Champion discussed how he would prepare for games on his most recent episode of "The Big Podcast with Shaq." His guest was none other than the legendary Allen Iverson, a zero-time NBA Champion who nonetheless was one of the greatest basketball players ever.

This part of the conversation begins at roughly the 19:30 mark.

Iverson mentioned that he would regularly stay up deep into the night, sometimes until 5 a.m. O’Neal then chimed in and said that this behavior wasn’t all that weird (if you’re tilting your head and squinting your eyes in confusion, don't worry, I am too).

O’Neal said that during his career, he’d never been in bed earlier than midnight. If he tried to fall asleep at that time, his performance would suffer.

"All the times I did try to go to bed early, I played like s–t." O’Neal said. "Ever since I was 18, I never go to bed before 12 o’clock, ever."

"The Big Shamrock" then proceeded to share the rest of his game day routine, which involved eating a rather specific meal after morning practice.

"That was my thing, stay out all night, right? Like just 4:00. Get up at 10:00. Go to shootaround, mess around, come back. Two turkey clubs, fries and a pineapple soda and then I'll sleep the four hours," O’Neal said.

His midday nap was key to the whole process. If O’Neal got a nap in, he’d catch a body on the court.

O'Neal (seen dunking in the 2004 NBA Finals) said he was able to regularly dominate in large part because of his insane game day routine. (SetNumber: X71008 TK1)

"That's what I need before the game. Like if I get that three hours before the game, no matter what I did the night before, I'm killing somebody," O’Neal said.

Part of me thinks a 7’1", 324-pound human being would kill most people on any given night anyway. But if that's the secret to his success who am I to judge!

Now, I don’t think this is necessarily a wise (or healthy) routine for everyone to follow. But as we all know, Shaq often marched to the beat of his own drum. And if it kept him going and helped him get into the Hall-of-Fame, that’s all that matters.