Shaquille O'Neal has a reputation as a bit of a jokester and prankster, so we need to take his latest comments with a grain of salt. But based on his tone and argument, it would seem he is serious about this one: Shaquille O'Neal seems to believe the Earth is flat.

On his latest podcast, O'Neal was asked what he thought about Kyrie Irving recently saying the Earth is flat. To the shock of cohost John Kincade, O'Neal flat-out said: "It's true. The Earth is flat. The Earth is flat. Yes, it is."

O'Neal's evidence is that he can drive from one side of the US to the other side and that he doesn't "go up and down at a 360-degree angle." He also says Columbus didn't discover America and that there is no way "China is under us."

Here is his argument, transcribed by Ben Rohrbach:

"It's true. The Earth is flat. The Earth is flat. Yes, it is. Listen, there are three ways to manipulate the mind — what you read, what you see, and what you hear. In school, first thing they teach us is, 'Oh, Columbus discovered America,' but when he got there, there were some fair-skinned people with the long hair smoking on the peace pipes. So what does that tell you? Columbus didn't discover America.

"So, listen, I drive from coast to coast, and this s--- is flat to me. I'm just saying. I drive from Florida to California all the time, and it's flat to me. I do not go up and down at a 360-degree angle, and all that stuff about gravity, have you looked outside Atlanta lately and seen all these buildings? You mean to tell me that China is under us? China is under us? It's not. The world is flat."

Again, it's possible O'Neal is just having some fun with Irving's comments, but he sounds serious.

Listen to O'Neal's comments, via Yahoo Sports: