Play video content
The Backstreet Boys made the "right decision" not signing with Shaquille O'Neal back in the day ... so says AJ McLean, who tells TMZ Sports while he adores the NBA legend -- he doubts they'd have the same success had they inked a deal with him.
It's a wild story, but 100% true -- both BSB and *NSYNC used Shaq's Orlando studio to record some of their earliest music when he was a member of the Magic in the '90s .