5 NBA players who could’ve starred in Space Jam 2 before LeBron James

2. Shaquille O’Neal

Basketball’s resident renaissance man lives in front of the camera and under the spotlight.

Shaquille O’Neal is a born performer. He did it as a Hall of Fame player, as a platinum-selling rapper, as a movie star, as a TV analyst, and in any one of the dozens of commercials he seems to be in on a daily basis.

A larger-than-life figure on and off the court, Shaq has already starred in multiple movies. He played Neon Boudeaux in the now-classic basketball film Blue Chips. He played a genie in Kazaam. He played a superhero in Steel. He also had cameos in What Men Want, Uncle Drew and Scary Movie 4, to name a few.

There was a solid decade — call it around 1995-2005 — when Shaq was in his prime in terms of his global celebrity and athletic ability. He could’ve done Space Jam 2 during that stretch and it might have been bigger than when Jordan did it, if for no other reason than Shaq would do all he could to promote the heck out of the movie and sell himself, as he does so well.