Although Shaquille O’Neal has reached that Cher-esque level of notoriety where he’s really only known by one name — Shaq — he’ll never tell you he’s a “celebrity.” six, seven years ago? Celebrities are——. They just are. I never want to be in that category,” the NBA Hall of Famer tells PEOPLE, explaining that “a lot of these people, when they get to a certain status, it automatically gives them the right to think they’re smarter than you, better than you, bigger are from you, and I never wanted to be like that.” Thanks to his celebrated basketball career, his constant appearance as an analyst on TNT or his years as a pitchman for dozens and dozens of companies, O’Neal is one of the most recognizable people in the country. However, he points out that he never travels with an entourage and does not show off his wealth and jewelry.
Shaquille O’Neal will become the first Orlando Magic player to have his number retired
In fact, his mom Lucille O’Neal took care of it! “I don’t want to be the guy,” he says. “I did it once and my mother was angry. She used words I hadn’t heard her use in a long time.” O’Neal then explained how his mom came to his house and made him watch tapes of the time she thought he was acting. “She’s like, ‘What do you think you look like?’ I said, ‘That looks stupid,'” he recalls without specifying the exact moment. “She said, ‘That’s not necessary, honey. You don’t have to do all those things.’” Since then, O’Neal has prided himself on being a bit of a regular guy. He has been known to randomly buy computers or bicycles for the kids. He plays elevated basketball games from time to time. Even while hosting a party in November 2023 for the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix, he walked around the venue and mingled with party goers.
He’s throwing his annual Shaq’s Fun House party at the XS Wynn Las Vegas night club on Super Bowl weekend, and he doesn’t plan to separate himself in the VIP area there either. “I have to do ordinary people’s things because I’m an ordinary person,” he says. “I don’t have any security. I don’t have an escort. I’m just a guy who played in the NBA.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. O’Neal was hardly your prototypical basketball player during his career. At 7’1” and listed at 325 lbs. most of his playing days he was significantly taller than others on the field. In many ways, he was much more like a football player. “I played football in high school. “I actually played football before basketball and got injured,” he says. “I was really good at all sports, but football was my first love. [I] got hurt, got into basketball late.” If things had gone differently, O’Neal jokes, “I would have been a tight end for the Cowboys.” A Dallas Cowboys fan, he adds that if the NFL team makes it to Las Vegas for Super Bowl LVIII , he “wears cowboy boots with a cowboy hat”.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education