Considered one of the greatest players in the National Basketball Association, Shaquille O'Neal became a household name during his 19-year career on 6 of the best NBA teams. He was an impressive competitor playing alongside (and against!) NBA greats Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, & Dikembe Mutombo.
Shaq Still Heavily Involved In The NBA!
Shaquille O'Neal can be most frequently seen as a sports analyst on Inside the NBA on TNT. It would be fair to say, he might know what hes talking about. There is even a popular weekly segment inspired by him called "Shaqtin' a Fool" where blunders and clumsy moments in NBA are highlighted.
Shaq even became a minority owner of the Sacramento Kings and has been helping to build their team. Ironically, during his time as an NBA competitor he often poked fun of the Sacramento Kings, calling them the Sacramento "Queens" to the media.
Shaquille O'Neal, the Business Mogul
Shaquille has invested in countless business ventures, such as real estate and the stock market. He famously has stock in General Electric, Apple and PepsiCo and even recently joined the Board of Directors of Papa Johns. He is often an investor for products or companies he does advertisements for, like Taco Bell, Icy Hot, Wheaties, Oreos, the list goes on and on!
Shaq, the Family Man
Shaq married Shaunie in December of 2002, and the pair had four children: Shareef, Amirah, Shaqir, and Me'arah. O'Neal also has one son from a previous relationship, Myles. Unfortunately, the pair divorced in 2009 but Shaq and Shaunie seem to be on good terms and even still participate in events together.
5 Quick Facts About Shaquille O'Neal:
- Shaq had trained to become a Reserve Police Officer in Los Angeles and Miami! Shaq was even sworn in as a sherriff's deputy in Jonesboro, Georgia in 2016! Shaq is the county record holder for "Tallest Sherriff's Deputy." That's right, Shaq is an actual Sherriff.
- He is the joint owner of 155 Five Guys Burgers restaurants, 17 Auntie Annie's Pretzels restaurants, 150 car washes, 40 24-hour fitness centers, a shopping center, a movie theater, and several Las Vegas nightclubs
- Shaq has a doctoral degree in education from Barry University! "Kids can still call me Shaq, but adults should call me Dr. O'Neal" he joked.
- His son, Shareef seems to be following in his dad's size 22 footsteps and plays power forward for the LSU Tigers!
- Being featured on Aaron Carter's "That's How I Beat Shaq" isn't his only taste of the music industry, he also raps! He has released 5 studio albums and 1 compilation album, Shaq Diesel even went platinum!