What Does Shaq Think of Joe Exotic and Jeff Lowe Now That 'Tiger King' Has Hit Netflix?

Shaquille O'Neal spoke about his relationship with Joe Exotic after the ultra-famous athlete was seen in the controversial Netflix documentary series Tiger King. The former NBA player claimed he was never close with Joe Exotic, and stopped supporting the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park once he learned of the former owner's wrongdoings.

Shaq spoke candidly about the times he visited Joe Exotic's animal park in his podcast The Big Podcast With Shaq.

"I don't harm tigers. I love tigers. I love white tigers," he said in the conversation. Shaq's love of tigers seems to be what placed him at the roadside zoo in the first place.

Tiger King aired on Netflix in March and has already gained tons of fan attention for a few reasons. First, Exotic is in prison for attempting to hire someone to kill his rival , a tiger advocate named Carole Baskin. Baskin has her own storyline and some claims that she was involved in the disappearance of her former husband. The part that drew Shaq into the equation is that Joe Exotic was apparently abusive to his tigers, and was charged with counts of violating the Endangered Species Act and apparently shooting and killing some of his tigers.

The former NBA star was seen in the documentary socializing with Exotic and even buying tigers from the controversial figure. Now, Shaq claims he doesn't own any tigers, but he's commented on buying them in the past.

Shaq started the conversation by acknowledging why he started, and stopped, supporting Joe Exotic. "We go in there, and it's a beautiful place, and the character that was there was Exotic Joe," he said. "We're there and I dropped some donations for the tigers' foods and all that. We take pictures with tigers. We went back a couple times," he revealed. "Then we go back another time and we found out that he's involved with all the stuff, and then, actually, I stopped going."

After expressing his love of tigers, Shaq clarified that he does still support the animals, just not through Joe Exotic. "Do I put donations to these zoos to help these tigers out? I do it all the time," he said. "Do I own tigers personally at my house? No. But I love tigers. Listen, people are going to make their own opinions, but, again, I was just a visitor. I met this guy — not my friend. Don't know him. Never had any business dealings with him, and I had no idea any of that stuff was going on."

Shaq's comment comes after many Twitter conversations asked what his opinion is on his connection to Joe Exotic with the full story now public. Conversations on the app joke about Shaq's fame and ties to such a wild story.