Shaquille O’Neal is one of the most principled men to have stepped onto the basketball court. While many have the perception of Shaq as a wild person for everything he did during his playing career, behind all the outlandish actions was one of the humblest men in the game.
The reason Shaq was like this is due to the strict upbringing his military step-father ensured in his household. He saw his son’s talent and made sure that Shaq made it to the NBA level while not forgetting where he came from. Shaq illustrated that with a story about how his dad gave away multiple cheeseburgers to a homeless veteran and told him to help those in need if he ever made it to the big time.
“We go to White Castle and he’s a big fella so he got 6 cheeseburgers and I got 6 too. We’re in a car, eating them, he pulls over and sees this man from the army. He starts talking to him and he recognized the platoon the guy was from. The guy was down on his luck and my father had like 5 double cheeseburgers left, about $20. In my mind I am thinking, ‘what are you doing bro? Imma eat that later.’ I was just selfish at this point. This my food… He gave him the food and got teary eyes and said to me, ‘if you ever make it big time, make sure you help those in need.”
Knowing Shaq didn’t grow up with a lot of money, it must have been hard for him to just give up on those 5 extra burgers. However, whatever he had was still more than the man on the road and his father made a profound impact that day.
Shaquille O’Neal Did Make It Big Time
Shaq’s father trained him to get into the NBA, so he always knew the immense potential his stepson had. It’s safe to say that Shaq managed to outperform that potential, whether it was on the court or in the world of business.
O’Neal is amongst the greatest players in the history of the game, with very few people placing him out of the top 10 in the sport. He won 4 championships with 3 Finals MVPs and a league MVP. After retiring, he became a successful businessman and a TV host for Inside the NBA. He’s having incredible success in both respects and keeps being charitable to remember the lesson his father taught him.
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