Tim McGraw's voice will grace ESPN's upcoming documentary about the relationship between Shaquille O'Neal and former Louisiana State University basketball coach, Dale Brown. Shaq & Dale is the next film to be featured in the SEC Storied series and it will air on April 13 on the SEC Network. McGraw was tapped as the narrative because he grew up in Louisiana and is a fan of LSU, Rolling Stone notes.
Under Brown's tutelage in the early 1990s, Shaq became one of the best players in the country. He won the National Player of the Year Award in 1991, recording an average of 21.6 points and 13.5 rebounds a game over three years. The documentary will examine the pair's friendship, which continues to this day.
O'Neal was the first pick of the 1992 NBA draft by the Orlando Magic. He became a pivotal player for the Los Angeles Lakers in 1996. He played there until 2004 and raked in three NBA Championships. He retired in 2011.
Brown coached at LSU from 1972 to 1997. The coach recorded 448 career wins at the university. He was named the National Coach of the Year in 1981. He continues to write letters to Shaq every week.
The trailer below further illustrates the pair's relationship as McGraw explains the story.
"I hope you didn't come all this way expecting to hear a story just about basketball," the singer says. "About a team that couldn't quite win the way everyone expected them to. Hope you didn't settle in when a player - bigger, better than all the others - ruled college basketball. And I hope you don't think that just because one is white and the other's black, one's a little younger and one is a little older, one was a coach and the other was a player, that two men couldn't become the very best of friends."
McGraw has proven himself a sports guy, having starred in The Blind Side in 2009 and Friday Night Lights in 2004.
ESPN anchor Hannah Storm directed Shaq & Dale.
