Shaquille O’Neal Once Asked His Lakers Teammates for $60,000 to Help a Woman With Disabilities, Was Met With Silence

Shaquille O’Neal tried to help a woman with disabilities but his Lakers teammate refused to collect just $60,000 for her.

Shaquille O’Neal is perhaps one of the most generous athletes. Though there are certain stances of his that often land him in trouble, no one ever doubts his kindness.
From buying kids thousands of gaming consoles to bringing snow in LA, Shaq has always aimed to outdo his own generosity.
Of course, his $400 million net worth aids his endeavors. But there are athletes much richer than him with a lot less concern for the less privileged.

Shaq is definitely not one of them. But in his book Shaq Uncut, he openly called out other players in the league and in Lakers.

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Shaquille O’Neal paid the entire $60,000 after teammates’ reluctance

Shaq grew up in a pretty difficult house that faced constant financial challenges. There were years growing up when O’Neal had to compromise on certain life choices.

But as an adult, he earned money beyond the wildest dreams of his family. The kind of money that can buy you anything you’d want. But Shaquille O’Neal took it as an opportunity to give back to society. In his own words, his parents wanted to give back.

But not everyone shared the same ideologies. Shaquille O’Neal noticed it on a certain instance with his Lakers teammate.

One day, the 7’1″ was in the team’s locker. He found a note someone had left him. The note requested O’Neal for a van because she was in a wheelchair.

So, he turned around and asked his teammates if they wanted to help out with the  $60,000 needed for the van. But everyone stayed silent. No one volunteered to help a lady in dire need of help. So O’Neal bought the van by himself.

Shaq in the book wrote: “One time I was in the Lakers locker room and I got this letter from this handicapped woman. I shout out to the guys, “Hey, this lady needs help. She’s in a wheelchair and she needs a van. It costs sixty thousand dollars. Anybody want to chip in?” Silence. Not one guy. I bought the van for her myself.”

Shaq once bought team’s gear cleaner a truck

Shaq’s generosity is not just limited to strangers and people with crippling needs. He is also as kind to people he is surrounded by, those who are not as well off as him.

O’Neal in his book talks about Rudy Garciduenas, a man in charge of cleaning the team’s gear. Once, Shaq saw Rudy driving an ancient Hyundai.

So, he asked Rudy if that was his car. Rudy retorted by reminding Shaq that not everyone made $20 million a year. O’Neal then took the proud owner of Hyundai on car shopping and bought him a truck.

If you had as much money as Shaquille O’Neal, would you have been as generous with it?

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