Shaq attacks verse in new TV series “Poetry in America”

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shaquille O’Neal has dubbed himself “The Big Baryshnikov” and “The Big Socrates.” He can now add “The Big Shakespeare.”

The basketball Hall-of-Famer is adding poetry to his resume as one of the stars of the new public television series “Poetry in America .”

O’Neal tells The Associated Press that he’s always loved poetry and wrote plenty of rhymes in his days as a part-time rapper.

But he says he has a whole new understanding after meeting the show’s host, Harvard Professor Elisa New.

O’Neal says he thought the poem he reads on the show, called “Fast Break,” was about basketball, but later realized it was about human emotions.

The series presented by American Public Television and Boston’s WGBH in Boston airs at various times on local public TV stations. Some episodes including, Shaq’s, are now available online.