“Real S**t”: Shaquille O’Neal’s Father’s ‘Pressure’ Speech Resonates With Kevin Garnett

Shaquille O’Neal has frequently credited his stepfather, Sergeant Phillip Arthur Harrison for teaching him important lessons about life. And Shaq isn’t the only Hall of Famer to respect Sgt. Harrison’s advice. Kevin Garnett recently re-shared some words of wisdom from O’Neal’s stepfather on his social media.

The 2008 NBA champion took to his Instagram stories to post a video of Shaq revealing how his late stepfather helped him deal with the pressure of becoming an NBA superstar.

“One day — and this is another reason why I don’t complain — playing against the New York Knicks, I have a terrible game,” O’Neal began. “So, my father calls, ‘Bring your tail home.’”

As a military man, Sgt. Harrison valued discipline above all. “Go home, wake up. 5 am, we get in the car, we driving,” the four-time NBA champion recalled. During the car ride, his stepfather asked him if he couldn’t handle the pressure. Shaq admitted that he couldn’t. This upset Sgt. Harrison, who soon parked the car under a bridge.

“There’s a homeless family…We just sit and wait, 5-5:36. Well, 6:30 the guy comes out and my father said, ‘That’s pressure.’ And then the wife comes out, and then the two babies come out. ‘See, pressure is when you don’t know where your next meal is coming from. Tired of you rich, spoiled athletes not performing to your level and saying you can’t handle the pressure. You don’t know what pressure is. You still get paid after a bad game. It’s not pressure. This is pressure’,” O’Neal shared.

 

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It was a powerful exercise by Sgt. Harrison to provide the young superstar with some much-needed perspective. Kevin Garnett, who had similarly humble origins, understandably resonated with the advice. The ‘Big Ticket’ re-shared the above video on his Instagram stories with the caption, “Real s**t“.

Kevin Garnett on IG pic.twitter.com/zUgIScSeBK

— tragicpatek (@tragicpatek) January 2, 2025

Shaquille O’Neal’s dominance was inspired by his late stepfather

It’s been over a decade since his stepfather passed away, but O’Neal is keeping his memory alive by sharing his nuggets of wisdom with the world. Two years ago, when Shaq was on the ‘IMPAULSIVE’ podcast, he dropped another anecdote that typified the guidance Sgt. Harrison provided.

“You know how the guys play now? The big guys play soft. That was me. Cause I wanted to be Magic Johnson, I was smooth, right? So, one time I had 45 points at halftime and I go to finger roll and I miss. And my father calls a timeout,” the 2000 NBA MVP recalled.

Sgt. Harrison walked onto the court and forced the coach to call a timeout. “So he takes me outside, he says, ‘What are you doing?’ I said, ‘Man, I’m working on my Dr. J stuff.’” His stepfather did not like that answer. “F**k Dr. J, you be Shaq.”

He recalled how he played the second half with that chip on his shoulder, taking out his anger on the rim. After the game, he realized that his aggression was intimidating the opponents and making it easier for Shaq to score. This is why Sgt. Harrison wanted him to play like himself.

He was such a believer in O’Neal’s playstyle that he even argued with his LSU coach, Dale Brown, for bringing in Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to teach Shaq the sky hook. “‘He’s a power player,’ my dad told my coach. ‘I want him to dunk.’”

Decades later, that is what we remember Shaq for the most. But behind the most dominant center of all time was the heavy but guiding hand of Philip Arthur Harrison.