{"id":530067,"date":"2026-03-11T22:36:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T22:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/530067\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T22:36:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T22:36:08","slug":"shaquille-oneal-makes-surprise-visit-to-edmonton-and-this-is-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/530067\/","title":{"rendered":"Shaquille O’Neal makes surprise visit to Edmonton and this is why"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shaquille O\u2019Neal has been spotted in Edmonton this week, and locals are curious why he\u2019s visiting the Alberta capital.<\/p>\n

The NBA legend was seen dining at Sherwood Park\u2019s Mazati Lounge on Tuesday night and was later spotted at a promotional event at the Edmonton Convention Centre on Wednesday. But why would Shaq be visiting Edmonton?<\/p>\n

\"Shaq-Edmonton\"<\/a><\/p>\n

@od.ay_10\/Instagram<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not every day that an NBA icon is seen making his rounds around the city of Edmonton, but there is a reason why Shaq has made the visit. According to CTV<\/a>, the big man was in town to help promote a new line of \u201cShaqopedic\u201d furniture being introduced by The Brick, an Edmonton-based furniture retailer.<\/p>\n

Shaqopedic furniture, as you might imagine, is designed for larger people and includes bigger items to fit the needs of people who might hover around Shaq\u2019s seven-foot-one, 325-pound frame.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just happy to be here, it\u2019s my first time in Edmonton,\u201d Shaq told CTV\u2019s Kent Morrison. \u201cI went out last night by myself, and everybody was hospitable.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the Canadian people know that Shaq loves Canada\u2026 I just love Canadian people.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Shaq has had a unique connection to the NHL\u2019s Edmonton Oilers ever since the team\u2019s run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2024. During that run, forward Zach Hyman took on the moniker of \u201cShaq Hyman<\/a>,\u201d and the two have gifted each other jerseys<\/a>. The duo, however, has never been seen together in person, and it\u2019s unlikely they\u2019ll get that chance even with Shaq\u2019s Edmonton visit.<\/p>\n

The Oilers are currently on a road trip with games in Dallas and St. Louis still on the docket. Edmonton\u2019s next home game is set for next Sunday, and it feels unlikely the NBA legend will be in the city for that long.<\/p>\n

Now that Shaq has a taste of Edmonton, maybe he will make his way back if the Oilers go on another long playoff run this spring.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Shaquille O\u2019Neal has been spotted in Edmonton this week, and locals are curious why he\u2019s visiting the Alberta…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":530068,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194294],"tags":[49,48,23752],"class_list":{"0":"post-530067","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edmonton","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-edmonton"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=530067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530067\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/530068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=530067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=530067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=530067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}