Larger Than Life: Basketball Legend Shaquille O’Neil

Dive into the towering legacy and multifaceted journey of Shaquille O’Neal, a basketball icon whose impact transcends the courts. With four NBA Championships, three NBA Finals MVP awards, and a remarkable nineteen-year Hall of Fame career, Shaq’s presence in the sport is undeniable. Yet, his story goes beyond the hardwood, delving into thriving business ventures, engaging appearances, and insightful analyst roles that have endeared him to a diverse and ever-growing audience of fans.

Toney would soon be sent to prison for possession and forging checks. Upon his release from federal prison, O’Neal convinced Toney to legally give up his parental rights to their son, who was now two years old, turning them over to Phillip Harrison, a United States Army drill sergeant, who would now become Shaquille’s stepfather. Shaquille would never be shy to hold his feelings back about his estranged father, which was clearly evident in a 1994 rap song but would eventually agree to a meeting in the summer of 2016. It was there that Shaquille told Toney, “I don’t hate you, I had a good life. I had Phil.”

Although he would often use physical discipline on Shaquille, Harrison would be a pillar in the young boy’s life and play a pivotal role in O’Neal’s basketball career at an early age by coaching his youth teams. Harrison’s basketball claim to fame didn’t start there, though, as he would often brag about the time when he played future Boston Celtics Hall of Fame center Dave Cowens in a pickup game. In 1969, Cowens, then a member of the Florida State Gators stopped by the Newark, New Jersey area rather than going to Woodstock, he joined in a local game. It was then that an errant elbow from Cowens would knock out a couple of Harrison’s teeth.

As a kid, O’Neal once dominated a game so much, scoring thirty of his team’s forty points and using skills that Harrison had ingrained in him, to the point that a father on the opposing team walked out onto the court mid-game and removed his son from the competition yelling at O’Neal, his coach, and officials, “He’s not 10. Bullsh*t. He’s 10, he gonna be the best big man in the world.” Considering that O’Neal hovered over nearly everyone on the court at the time, standing 6’4″, the man must have been able to see into the future. By the time O’Neal turned thirteen, he would grow an additional two inches and wear size seventeen shoes.

Paying Respect

It was here that Shaq would select his infamous number 32 jersey. However, O’Neal’s original plan was to honor NBA great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and wear 33, but the school did not have that uniform number. O’Neal would see his number fluctuate a number of times after leaving Robert G. Cole High School, wearing number 33 while attending Louisiana State University and then returning to his familiar 32 when drafted by the Orlando Magic as veteran Terry Catledge had already laid claim to number 33. When O’Neal landed in Los Angeles, he would take up number 34, as Magic Johnson was 32, and during his final year playing for the Boston Celtics, he would wear 36.

In 1990-91, O’Neal became the first player in history to lead the Southeastern Conference (SEC) in points (27.6 per game), rebounds (14.7), blocked shots (5), and field goal percentage (62.8). Despite his impressive high school performances and freshman year, opponents still took O’Neal lightly. Darryl “Ice” Jones, Southeastern Louisiana’s big man once said, “I thought Shaq would be fat. But he’s got no fat, none whatsoever. He’s just seven feet of muscle, a muscle monster.”

With one of the twelve spots reserved for a collegiate player, the decision came down to either O’Neal or Duke star Christian Laettner. While there were many reasons to select Shaq, one of the reasons why they didn’t was due to the design of the international key, which some felt would hinder O’Neal’s abilities. Clearly, the snub weighed on O’Neal as twenty years later he stated “I was pissed off. I was jealous. But then I had to come to the realization that I was a more explosive, more powerful player, but Christian Laettner was a little more fundamentally sound than I was.” O’Neal would eventually claim his Olympic goal in 1996.

In fact, during the three seasons in which he was on campus, O’Neal’s teams never advanced past the second round, going 2-3 in the field of sixty-four. Although his team struggled, it was not without effort on his behalf as during his final game he dropped an impressive 36 points, which included hitting all twelve of his free throws, and added a dozen rebounds in an 89-79 loss to the Indiana Hoosiers.

As a first-year pro, O’Neal grabbed the 92-93 NBA Rookie of the Year award and was named to the NBA All-Star Game as a starter, the first player since Michael Jordan was honored in 1985. As a twenty-year-old rookie, O’Neal would quickly become one of the faces of the league but occasionally struggled to hang out with his teammates for one reason. Alcohol. Unable to even handle the smell of table wine, according to former teammate Dennis Scott, O’Neal’s issues with the beverage began at a young age when he was caught drinking beer and as punishment, Phil Harrison made him drink a twelve pack. Obviously not a parenting tactic that would fly today.

A year later, O’Neal would release his debut album, Shaq Diesel, a platinum-certified album that featured the Fu-Schnickens and Phife Dawg and three hit singles. Shaq would release a total of five albums and make guest appearances on singles by Michael Jackson and Aaron Carter. In addition to his feature albums, O’Neal has released several diss tracks online or while performing live at clubs and in 2021 would host his own DJ set at DJ DIESEL at the Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas.

The duo would capture three straight championships, but many believe that the talented pair was capable of more, had they not let their egos get in the way. Before the pair could lead the Lakers to a three-peat, they would struggle to advance deep into the playoffs for their first three seasons together, but when the team brought in coaching legend Phil Jackson, everything clicked. If you thought Shaq was dominant on the court before, his average numbers during the 2000 NBA Finals cemented the fact with 38 points, 17 rebounds, and 45 minutes per game.

In 1993, Shaq and the Orlando Magic were battling the Phoenix Suns when the big man threw down such a powerful dunk that the basket and stanchion collapsed. After the stadium crew had to take the entire apparatus into the tunnel for some mid-game repairs, the league quickly made sure to reinforce all other hoops around the league. This wouldn’t be the only hoop that Shaq would destroy during his career as he also destroyed one in New Jersey, requiring the league to establish a new rule charging anyone who broke a rum or backboard with a technical foul.

After playing a supporting role in the popular Blue Chips film, Shaq would play the feature role in Kazaam. Ranked among one of the worst movies ever made, critics and fans clearly weren’t as impressed with O’Neal on the screen as they were on the court. While O’Neal’s next feature movie, Steel received more positive comments, it was still a box office bomb. Obviously learning from his past, Shaq has not had any feature roles since 1997 but has still managed to find his way into bit parts on various feature films and television shows including Hustle, What Women Want, The Lego Movie, and The Simpsons.

Whether it is as part of his off-court ventures, “Shaq Fu” and “The Diesel/Shaq Diesel” came from his rap career and video game or from his dominance on the court, many of the nicknames are unique and fitting. In 2000, O’Neal dubbed himself “The Big Aristotle” and following his second championship with the Los Angeles Lakers, he would refer to himself as “M.D.E” (Most Dominant Ever). “The Big Fella”, another Shaq nickname didn’t just save monikers for himself as he once tagged his Miami home swimming pool “Shaqapulco” and rival San Antonio Spurs big man Tim Duncan as “The Big Fundamental”.

“I’m a horse. Kobe ratted me out. That’s why I’m getting divorced. He said Shaq gave a (woman) a mil. I don’t do that ’cause my name’s Shaquille. I love’em, I don’t leave’em. I got a vasectomy, now I can’t breed ’em.” O’Neal’s diss towards Bryant came off the heels of the Lakers guard dealing with a rape charge, commenting that O’Neal paid up to $1 million to numerous women to keep quiet about their affairs. A short time later, Shaunie O’Neal filed for divorce after five years of marriage.

“We don’t need to talk about what I was doing” he continued. “but I wasn’t protecting her and protecting those vows. Sometimes you live that double life and get caught up.” On a different podcast, Shaq admitted that he “was a serial cheater.” He added, “I’m never the guy that’s going to get up here because of my platform and fake it,” he revealed. “I did it.”

Originally designed to be used against former Chicago Bulls forward Dennis Rodman, Nelson had one of his players purposely foul Rodman, who was a terrible free throw shooter in an attempt to earn extra possessions off of the almost guaranteed miss. The strategy, which would become known as “Hack-a-Shaq” would carry over when the Mavericks played the Los Angeles Lakers as O’Neal was a career 52.7% free throw shooter. The NBA would eventually step put a stop to the strategy in 2016 as various teams would use it against other poor shooters, grinding games to a halt and upsetting fans.

As the general manager of the Sacramento Kings’ entry in the NBA’s 2K leagues, O’Neal oversees the “Kings Guard”. Formed by Kings’ part owners Mark Mastrov and Andy Miller, NRG recruits, manages, and financially backs teams of video game enthusiasts who compete in year-round tournaments for millions of dollars in prizes.

Keeping his promise to his mother, O’Neal who had the Tigers’ highest grade point average as a freshman, would earn his bachelor’s degree in general studies and a minor in political science eight years after leaving the Louisiana State University campus. The learning didn’t stop there as Shaq would also find time to earn a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Phoenix in 2005 and seven years later would be granted his Doctor of Education degree in Human Resource Development from Barry University.

When he was traded to Miami, O’Neal would seek to become a Miami Beach reserve officer where he would be paid $1 per year. O’Neal would assist the Miami-Dade police in the arrest of two individuals charged with aggravated battery, assault, and hate crime. While he would have his special deputy honors revoked by two police departments after his Kobe Bryant rap diss, O’Neal would eventually add a reserve officer for Doral, Florida, and Jonesboro, Georgia sheriff’s deputy to his lengthy law enforcement resume.

In 2016 O’Neal would make his in-ring debut at WrestleMania 32 as part of the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. After eliminating one wrestler, O’Neal found himself standing toe-to-toe with the 7’0″, 385-pound Big Show. After much discussion, social media hype, and planning, a match was scheduled to take place at WrestleMania 33, but it would fall through. Five years later, O’Neal would team with Jade Cargill in a mixed tag-team match against Cody Rhodes and Red Velvet on AEW Dynamite, where despite winning, would find himself crashing through a pair of tables.

Whereas back in the day, power forwards and centers would often be found battling in the paint for rebounds, putbacks, and dunks, over the past two decades more and more seven-footers have taken to launching shots from a distance once reserved for smaller players.  Seven-footers such as Karl-Anthony Towns, Joel Embiid, and Nikola Jokic are not only three of the better big men in the game, but also proficient three-point shooters. During Shaquille O’Neal’s nineteen years in the NBA, he attempted just twenty-two three-pointers, including a career-high five attempts during the 1994-95 season. O’Neal would only be successful on one attempt, which came in a victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on February 16, 1996.