The former NBA star rarely shied from using his voice. But Shaquille O’Neal often used his megaphone just to entertain fans. Therefore, it might not be surprising O’Neal has not opined much on social issues. The 48-year-old even admitted on his podcast that he had never voted until recently completing an absentee ballot for the presidential election on Nov. 3. “I don’t have any excuses, but I didn’t have time,” O’Neal told USA TODAY Sports. “That’s a bad excuse. My mom was disappointed. Uncle Jerome was disappointed. But this year, I made time.”
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The words carried significance for reasons beyond Shaquille O’Neal’s stature as a former NBA star as well as a Black man. O’Neal’s perspective on how police and local communities can improve relationships also stems from growing up in a law enforcement family. “There definitely needs to be reform – reforming some of the laws, reforming some of the tactics and reforming policing itself,” O’Neal told USA TODAY Sports. “Once you recognize the change and put people in place that can make those changes, it could be a whole different world. I don’t think what happened in the 1960’s is going to fly with the youngsters these days. So sometimes you have to use a little bit of police reform.”
In Washington DC, Pepsi and the Wizards plan to refurbish basketball facilities at the Navy Yard as well as work with local artists to paint murals on some of the courts. In Memphis, Pepsi, the Grizzlies Foundation and local HBCUs will oversee an eight-week mentorship program that will pair college students with high schoolers. Those partners plan to give participating college students paid internships. “I don’t want to answer that like I have all the answers. But I know that in the communities where I live at where Pepsi and myself are doing, it’ll help,” O’Neal said. “It’s not the all-in, all cure. But it’s helping. Before you build a high rise, you got to build a foundation. You got to build the first floor and the second floor. So this is going to take time. But with what Pepsi and I do, hopefully this is a blueprint for other big Fortune 500 companies to follow.”
NBA star Shaquille O’Neal is set to star in the animated kids series Shaq’s Garage. The action adventure series will portray the secret adventures of O’Neal’s collection of animated cars and trucks, with each having unique skills like musical stylings, Shaq Fu and their mastery of the ultra-secret language of Shaqanese and the Shaqtionary.
When O’Neal was starting out, “I didn’t have the intelligence” around money, O’Neal told told entrepreneur and “Shark Tank” star Daymond John at a Black Entrepreneurs Day event on Saturday. In fact, Shaq said he blew through his first million-dollar paycheck in an hour, buying matching Mercedes-Benzes for him and his dad and expensive jewelry. “I had a million, but I wasn’t netting a million. I had no knowledge about FICA, state tax and income tax,” O’Neal told John.
Even after O’Neal signed a $40 million contract with the Orlando Magic in 1992, he still didn’t have financial or business acumen. O’Neal, 48, told John that is wasn’t until he signed with Los Angeles Lakers in 1996 that he got the best money advice ever from Magic Johnson. “When I first got to L.A., [Johnson] said ’Shaq, it’s okay to be famous and all that but at some point, you want to start owning things,” O’Neal said.
nbxmemes: Where does Shaq rank all time? Upopular opinion: Shaq shouldn’t talk too much about others. Being gifted a once in a billion Body is no skill. He barely worked out. His prime was short. He does not know the path others have to go. Shaquille O’Neal: And still he’s the most dominant player ever. #workoutforwhat
