In the latest evidence that everything and everyone is emo now, Shaquille O'Neal has embraced his inner emo Jimmy Butler. 

The basketball Hall Of Famer, TV personality, businessman and general pop-cultural force of nature went 'full emo' on the Halloween edition of Inside The NBA.

The costume was a tribute to Miami Heat superstar Jimmy Butler's media day appearance in which he turned up sporting a swooping emo fringe, eyeliner, multiple piercings and embraced a more introverted and introspective persona. 

Speaking on his new look, the always directly spoken Butler stated "I'm feeling this"  incorporating a lyric from blink-182's emo-adjacent 2003 hit of the same name before revealing the motivation for his 2023 style choice. "I'm very emotional right now. This is my emo state and I like this. This is me. This is how I've been feeling as of late."

While initially, it appeared Butler may be pulling a prank, he went on to confirm to NBA TV that he is in fact "emo now".  

Shaq himself is no stranger to the world of rock and metal either, witht he big man having contributed to sending Sydney hardcore band SPEED viral last year. 

Footage from the groups set at Sound and Fury went viral after former NBA player turned conservative Christian media personality Royce White posted a tweet lambasting the crowd for their behaviour captioning the footage with the words And I’m the one with a Mental Illness? We are in a spiritual crisis. What in the false catharsis is this? Vegan coke heads getting right up on the edge of physical confrontation to deal with their unresolved despair and angst — Only faith in God can do that. Gloves Off!"

With over 1000 'quote tweets' and nearly 250k views, White's tweet unintentionally caused the already trending footage to go viral, resulting in Instagram viral clips posting account viralclipz sharing the footage and asking "Who's going to this concert?". The post from viralclipz prompted 'The Big Aristotle', Shaquille O'Neal himself to reply with "me".  Given Shaq is about to hit Australia for a run of appearances, there's the outside possibility he might just make good on that claim. You can see the interaction below. 

Shaq also made the news here at Maniacs back in May when he dropped a new freestyle rap Thotties Hit The Floor that features him dropping bars over Drowning Pool's nu-metal smash Bodies. 

The latest musical offering from the hall-of-fame centre, media megastar and generational cultural force utilises Bodies as a backing track and features Shaq showing off his considerable rhyming talents which have previously seen him release four full-length rap albums. 

Posted to TikTok by Shaq himself Thotties Hit The Floor further solidifies Shaq's long-held affinity for rock music, with the dominant big man having previously collaborated with 311. 

Butler's media day appearance and Shaq's tribue to it follows  Steph Curry's recent on-stage appearance with Paramore.  The four-time NBA champion and two-time NBA MVP took the stage at Paramore's show at the Chase Center in San Francisco, belting out Misery Business in a spirited, if not pitch-perfect duet with Hayley Williams. Curry even took the lead in the bridge, much to the joy of the audience. 

Before Steph took the mic, Williams told the audience that this was now the Steph Curry show. 

"Tonight we're going to sing something together. Listen, from the moment Steph takes the mic, this is no longer a Paramore show, this is a Steph Curry show."

Watch fan footage of the entire guest slot below. 

Curry's public display of love for Paramore wasn't a one-off either, he is a noted fan of the band, with Curry's wife Ayesha confirming via her Instagram stories that the band even performed at Steph's 30th birthday party.  Ayesha also revealed that the two bonded over their love of the group on early dates. "We listened to Paramore on one of our first dates… and many years later they were kind enough to perform at (Curry's) 30th (birthday), what a full circle moment... Honestly one of the coolest nights." This revelation from Ayesha provides additional context to her comments "You know us and Steph, we go back a few years, tonight is our reunion". 

Released earlier this year, Paramore's latest album, This Is Why debuted at #1 on both the ARIA overall and vinyl charts. This Is Why is Paramore's third album to hit #1 in Australia, following 2009's Brand New Eyes and 2013's Paramore. The previous album, 2017s After Laughter peaked at #3. This Is Why also debuted at #1 in the UK. 

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At Maniacs we can't wait to see who in the NBA comes out as emo next! We're looking at you, Josh Giddey! 

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To celebrate the fact that everything sad is rad again, we've turned the clock back 20 years to 2003, to bring you this list of 23 Emo Anthems Turning 20 In 2023.

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