From what we have seen over the years, it is only clear that Shaquille O’Neal is a gem of a person. While on the basketball court, he might tear through defenses or destroy rims, off the court, he is a family man.
The credit for his amazing upbringing goes to his stepfather, Phillip Harrison. Harrison had a huge influence on Shaq’s life. In fact, if it weren’t for him, Shaq wouldn’t be the person that he turned out to be.
Harrison apparently made sure that Shaq started to dunk the ball instead of trying to play like Magic Johnson. That advice did wonders for him, and O’Neal started to dominate his opponents.
Considering Shaq was a big man, it’s not unusual to see their careers cut short due to injuries. Fortunately, O’Neal never had a career-ending injury, but his father made sure he was prepared if something like that happened.
Shaquille O’Neal Enrolled In The Los Angeles Police Department
Looking at Shaq’s career, he achieved everything a basketball player could dream of in his career. Be it individual accolades or winning championships, Shaq achieved it all during his time in the NBA.
But things could have very easily gone south for the big man if he injured himself. Keeping that in mind, his father made sure that Shaq had a backup in case he failed to become a successful basketball player.
Via Sportskeeda:
“One of the things Sarge always told me was, ‘What if you break your knee? What if you can’t play anymore? You better have a backup plan.’ Rather than just be Shaq, basketball hero, the star of a couple of terrible movies and best-selling rap artist, I needed to gain some credibility in law enforcement.”
Thankfully, Shaq never needed a backup plan as he became a successful basketball star and avoided any career-ending injuries in his career.
As for Harrison, he has now passed away. But he made O’Neal promise to take care of the entire family. So far, Shaq has been honoring that promise, and we are sure he will continue to do so.
