Chinese officials steal Shaq's gifts from earthquake victims

Posted By Joshua Keating Friday, July 17, 2009 - 11:49 AM Share

This is not what you call good P.R.:

The fate of four signed basketballs given by NBA great Shaquille O'Neal to Sichuan earthquake survivors sparked an Internet storm in China this week.
The 15-times All Star doled out the balls to four children on Tuesday when he was visiting a school in Mianyang, the city worst affected by the earthquake which killed more than 80,000 people last year.
The boys were devastated when the balls were subsequently confiscated by school staff and China's increasingly assertive Internet community rallied to their cause.[...]
O'Neal, who is hugely popular in basketball-mad China, later dispatched replacement balls to the students.

"I never thought it would be like this. I can imagine how disappointed the boys must be," O'Neal told the paper.

If these officials had ever played Shaq Fu on SNES they would know what happens when you get between Shaq and his charity work.

EXPLORE:CHINA, SPORTS

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NQUIXOTE

1:54 PM ET

July 17, 2009

PURE EVIL.

DOUCEANGE

1:34 AM ET

July 19, 2009

that's a bit extreme from the

that's a bit extreme from the Chinese government... there is no reason to act like that ... pure evil indeed

MONEYINABOX

1:46 AM ET

July 19, 2009

I am in no way defending the

I am in no way defending the actions above, but if you read the article with a little care you can see that these were school officials. Calling Mianyang school staff 'Chinese officials' is a bit misleading. It'd be similar to referring to a high school principal in Delaware as an 'American official'.

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