Shaquille O'Neal admits he 'never worked hard in practice'

Shaquille O'Neal had an interesting strategy during his years in the league: He "chilled" in practice and saved his all for the game.

During an interview with Yahoo Sports' Graham Bensinger, the Hall of Fame center admitted he never worked hard in practice in order to avoid unnecessary physical punishment.

In the words of Allen Iverson, 'We talking about practice?' Did I work hard in practice? No. Never. And let me tell you why. The guy that I'm playing against, they're under me. So to try and show that they're worthy of being an NBA player, they would touch me up. So it was my philosophy. … I'm not gonna get touched up twice. I'm not gonna get beat up at practice and in the game. So I will chill in practice and I'll give you my all in the game.

And it was that "laziness" that drove his former Los Angeles Lakers teammate Kobe Bryant crazy.

"You got to have the responsibility of working every single day," said Bryant in a profile with The New Yorker in March 2014. "You can't skate through shit."

O'Neal is the owner of a single NBA MVP trophy, but then-coach Phil Jackson has said he thought O'Neal could have won 10 consecutive MVP awards if the big man had worked harder.