When Shaquille O'Neal tried to pronounce the name of a town in Wales 58 letters long

On NBA on TNT, NBA icon Shaquille O'Neal attempted to pronounce the name of a Welsh town with 58 letters in it. The town located in Anglesey, Wales – Llanfairpwllgwyngyll – is the place with the longest name in Europe with 58 characters split into 19 syllables. NBA on TNT uploaded a video of O'Neal trying to pronounce the name this week. 

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Shaquille O'Neal pronounces name of Welsh town with 58 syllables on NBA on TNT

The other hosts asked O'Neal to pronounce the name of the town, which he does on the first try. However, O'Neal listens to a weatherman say the name perfectly before trying it again. Fans were mostly impressed with O'Neal's pronunciation, complementing the retired NBA champion for completing the task. "Honestly Shaq did that impressively I couldn’t get through the first 12 letters without stuttering," one user wrote, adding a laughing emoji along with it. "Being from Wales myself I can’t even say it properly so FairPlay to Shaq that was a decent effort lol," wrote another user, who claimed to be from Wales.

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Fans react to Shaq pronouncing Welsh town name

As per a 2018 radio interview, O'Neal revealed that he cannot speak a lot of languages. Though he grew up in the Spanish community of San Antonio Texas, he never learned Spanish, which he claimed to regret. However, the four-time NBA champion managed to pronounce the Welsh name decently. As per reports, the 58-letter-long town name holds the Guinness World Record for the longest word to appear in a published cryptic crossword.

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O'Neal, who played 20 NBA seasons, started his career with the Orlando Magic in 1993. The Newark-born NBA star won three NBA titles alongside Kobe Bryant while with the LA Lakers (2000, 2001, 2002), before he moved to the Miami Heat, where he won his fourth and final NBA title in 2006. He then moved to Phoenix Suns and Cleveland Cavaliers before retiring in 2011 with the Boston Celtics. The 15-time All-Star was the No.1 overall draft pick 1992 and is considered one of the best centres to have graced the league.

He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016. Currently, Shaquille O'Neal hosts NBA on TNT with  Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley. The NBA, which was suspended in March due to the COVID-19 crisis, resumed play at the NBA bubble in Orlando. Teams are currently competing at the Conference semi-finals, and are scheduled to complete the season by the end of the month or early October. 

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(Image credits: AP)