WATCH: NBA legend stars ahead of MLR final before Dropkick Murphys join the celebrations

Colin Newboult
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Shaquille O'Neal O'Neal before the MLR Final

Former basketball star Shaquille O’Neal was invited to present the match ball for last weekend’s Major League Rugby final, and it caused a stir on social media.

Ahead of the clash between the New England Free Jacks and the San Diego Legion in Chicago, the NBA legend came out onto the field with the ball.

It was a great coup for MLR to get someone of O’Neal’s stature before New England and San Diego did battle in the showpiece event.

The Free Jacks would go on to claim a 25-24 triumph thanks to a late try in what was a thrilling final.

There was, however, one thing that particularly stood out, and that was the size of O’Neal’s hands as he walked out with the match ball before kickoff.

The ball looked tiny as the former NBA man held it aloft, with Gareth Jenkinson remarking: “Bru the way @SHAQ made this rugby ball look like a size 3 item for u13s shows you how big the man is! Imagine he’d played our beautiful game.”

Meanwhile, Progressive Rugby added: “Good grief, how small does Shaq make a rugby ball look?”

Linebreak Rugby suggested that given the size of O’Neal, he could have made an excellent number eight, writing: “Shaq carrying off a front foot scrum would end careers. That’s apparently a size 5 match ball.”

There was also star names to be seen after the match, where punk band Dropkick Murphys performed.

They were then joined by the winning team from the MLR final, the Free Jacks, who evidently enjoyed their time on stage.

The band have released 12 albums in total, with three of those reaching the top 10 in the US Billboard charts.

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