Larger-than-life NBA legend Shaq O’Neil is overwhelmed by towering 7-foot-9 Olivier Rioux, stuns netizens

All hail the highest!
It’s time for Shaq to pass the crown on Olivier Riouxthe Canadian college basketball player for the Florida Gators of the Southeastern Conference (SEC).
Who is he? Read on to find out!
NBA players have a track record of amazing people with their astonishing heights!
The NBA, which stands for National Basketball Association, is a professional basketball league in North America that has some of the world’s best players. It was formed in 1949 when the National Basketball League and the Basketball Association of America merged. The NBA is considered to be the world’s best professional basketball league and is one of the largest professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada.
Now, Shaquille O’Nealpopularly known as Shaq, is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program Inside the NBA.

Although Shaq became hugely popular because of his play on the basketball court, his height also earned a few more eyes! His impact was immediate, earning Rookie of the Year honors in 1993 and leading the Magic to the 1995 NBA Finals. He would then join the Los Angeles Lakers, where he teamed up with Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson to win three NBA championships in three years.
Shaq truly is the personification of larger-than-life, and that’s not just created by his one-in-a-million personality; his height has also been a major contributing factor. He is a 7-foot-1-inch (2.16 m) and 325-pound (147 kg) center who played for six teams during his 19-year career in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and is a four-time NBA Champion. O’Neal is considered one of the greatest basketball players and centers of all time. Newark, New Jersey, USA
With his skills and finesse as a sportsman and now sports analyst, AND that height – Shaq is someone who easily towers over anyone else!
However, it looks like someone else is already here to take that crown as his successor, and Shaq himself is in awe of him!
It’s Olivier Rioux!
The Canadian freshman not only makes Shaq look normal, he makes Shaq look small.
Shaq recently shared a video coming face-to-face with the 7-foot-9 Girioux on TikTok, and in that video, Shaq looked shocked at Rioux’s height!
Imagine how shocking, startling, and terrifying that would be for people of average height, somewhere around 5’7″ to 6’1″.

The reality check!

When Shaq’s video caught the eye, the internet was also amazed by Rioux’s height.
One user took to X to express his surprise, saying “7’9″. It’s insane. I know and regularly see a 6’10” guy and he’s huge.” It’s pretty clear that the user who goes by the name ‘Einar’ is quite amazed at how tall Rioux is.
However, another user wasn’t too impressed with Rioux’s height. The user, who goes by the name ‘AlwaysKnocking’, wrote: “He’ll never have muscles like Shaq though.”
Another user, who went by the name ‘The Guy You Know’, praised Shaq for his temperament, writing: “Shaq is cool with it too. There is no celebrity I would trust more than him.”

Who is Olivier Rioux?

Still a teenager, Olivier Rioux is a Canadian college basketball player for the Florida Gators of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). In 2018, when Rioux competed in AAU basketball for the French Phenoms, he stood a staggering 6’10” at the age of 12. Guinness World Records declared him to be the tallest teenager in the world in 2021 he measured 7 ft 5 in (2.26 m) at the age of 15. He is now 7 ft 9 in (2.36 m) tall.

Rioux was born in Terrebonne on February 2, 2006 to Jean-François (6’8″), a photographer and former volleyball player, and Anne Gariepy (6’1″), who works at the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). His older brother, Émile (6’9″), has also played basketball.
Both Olivier and Émile played for several Canadian AAU teams. Rioux first gained attention while playing internationally for the French Phenoms at the age of 12, when he was 6’10”. He played for Real Madrid and Brookwood Elite before attending the IMG Academy.
After spending time at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, Rioux committed to the University of Florida. He committed to play college basketball at the University of Florida.
Rioux will be redshirted during his freshman season, but when he takes the field for his debut, he will be the tallest player in college basketball history.