Shaquille O’Neal dances with The Inspired Unemployed and names his favourite Australian song

You’ve got to give it to former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal for embracing and adapting to Aussie culture faster than you can say crikey.

The latest viral video from the 7’2” cult icon’s tour of Australia has seen him dancing and grooving with online comedians The Inspired Unemployed on TikTok.

In a clip titled ‘Funny the people you run into on a walk’ the big man dances to an original track written by TIU while the comedians act as his back-up dancers.

The video has been viewed over 133,000 times in just 16 hours with Aussies loving seeing Shaq dancing while flanked by dancers wearing Akubra hats and tasselled shirts. 

‘What did you do today? oh just jazz hands with Shaq nbd,’ one viewer commented.

‘Shaq is one my fav humans on the planet ..he’s legit an amazing man,’ posted another.

‘Shaq is like the only American that fits in to Australia culture so well,’ said yet another. 

Shaq grooving with The Inspired Employed. The former NBA star really got into the action

The Inspired Unemployed started when Kiama tradies Jack Steele and Matt Ford started comedic skits on social media platform Instagram.

Their skits were so well received that their Instagram followers surged to 120,000 in just 10 months, allowing the duo to quit their jobs.

They have since graced the cover of GQ magazine, signed a fashion deal with Italian luxury brand Fendi and have worked with big names in sport including Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist and Brett Lee.

Their videos include skits on life being a tradie, mocking stay-at-home cultures adopted during Covid lockdowns and dance routines whenever and wherever possible. 

DJ Diesel (aka NBA legend Shaq) performs at ‘Let’s Be Friends 2018’at Avalon Hollywood

Shaq is doing everything he can to fit as much of the Aussie experience into his itinerary as possible during his first trip down under in 20 years.

He also took the time this week to sit down with Aussie sporting icons Matty Johns and Jonathan Brown, revealing his favourite Aussie song.

He tried to inspire a sing-a-long of Men At Work’s iconic hit Down Under, but couldn’t quite stick the landing.

‘Can I say, can I say,’ he sang to a puzzled-looking Johns.

‘I think you’ve got the the words wrong,’ Johns said.

‘When I can, I cannot say, no more,’ Shaw persisted, adding some finger clicking for good measure.

‘You sure they are the words?’ Johns added.

Johns does the hands challenge with Shaq and comes up well short against his giant mitts

By then Shaq was lost in his own version of Down Under, including an a cappella guitar solo that came closer to the original song than his lyrics did.

Shaq also promised he would drop the banger into his DJ sets as DJ Diesel in Sydney and Melbourne.