The mere mention of these conspiracy theories on such a large platform begins to blur the line of what is reality and what is fiction, according to Muller. 'This particular case, it’s unusual and perhaps unfortunate, but people should be basing our actions on the best available knowledge.' 'People who have a big public presence have a responsibility to be considerate of their bully pulpit when they make statements like this,' Bentley tells Bleacher Report. It’s easy to write this off as another instance of a notable goofball just being goofy, but there is harm in someone with Shaq’s international public platform spreading blatantly false information, at least according to Sam Bentley, a professor of geology and geophysics at the Hall of Famer’s alma mater, LSU. The 15-time All-Star then when on to dispute satellite imagery, calling it potentially 'drawn and made up.' On Monday night, Shaq walked back those comments during the NBA on TNT broadcast, saying that he was joking. Have you looked outside of Atlanta lately and seen all these buildings? So you mean to tell me that China is under us? China is under us? It's not. I do not go up and down on a 360-degree angle, and all that stuff about gravity.

O’Neal goes on to explain that his drives from coast to coast helped him come to this conclusion.

Earth is flat jokes