Me shooting 40% at the foul line is just God’s way to say nobody’s perfect.

Shaquille O’Neal was one of the NBA’s most dominant centers, but throughout his career he was famously a poor free-throw shooter—an Achilles’ heel opponents exploited with “Hack-a-Shaq” intentional fouling. The quip plays off that well-known public narrative: despite overwhelming physical gifts and on-court success, he had a conspicuous statistical weakness at the foul line. O’Neal often addressed this in interviews and media appearances with self-deprecating humor, reframing criticism as a reminder that even elite athletes have imperfections. The line fits his broader public persona as a charismatic star who disarms scrutiny by joking about his own flaws.

The joke turns a technical failure (a low free-throw percentage) into a philosophical point: imperfection is universal. By attributing his weakness to “God’s way” of balancing his talents, O’Neal suggests that extraordinary strengths often coexist with conspicuous limitations, and that humility can coexist with greatness. The humor also functions rhetorically as image management—owning a vulnerability before critics can weaponize it—while inviting audiences to see the larger truth behind sports statistics: excellence is not the same as flawlessness. In a broader sense, the quote encourages self-acceptance and perspective about shortcomings.