Shaquille O’Neal had a turbulent start to his basketball journey of becoming one of the most dominant players to play the game. The four-time champion talked about his struggles in high school, which almost made him give up the game. In his book, ‘Shaq Uncut: My Story‘, the player reveals about getting dropped by the junior varsity team when he was 15 years old, which eventually led him to question his career choices. Here is an excerpt from the book:
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“They had a junior varsity team, but I was too embarrassed to be on it. I came home and told my dad I got cut and I thought he’d be really mad, but he said, ‘Go back up to the gym and keep working.’ I was crushed that I didn’t make that team. I pretended it was no big deal, but it was. I didn’t cry, but I was devastated. I went into my room, looked at the ceiling, and said, ‘I’m never going to make it.'”
Shaq has often times credited his success to his stepfather – Sergeant Phillip A. Harrison, and talked about him being a continuous motivation in his life. When the big man was dropped from the team, it was his stepfather who continued to push him to work harder. The three-time NBA Finals MVP was ready to lay down his boots after being devastated by the first sign of failure. He started evaluating his career options as a DJ or a rapper. Here is a quote from the book:
“I was really down on myself. After a while I tried to put my own positive spin on it. I’m telling myself, Maybe I’ll be a deejay, maybe I’ll be a rapper. But those were long shots. I knew that.”
Shaq was in Germany at the time and was suffering from a medical condition called the Osgood-Schlatter disease. Due to the medical condition, he had continuous pain below his knee joint, which restricted his movements and did not allow him to be effective. The player had to play with metal braces on his knee. However, things changed when he moved back to the United States.
Shaquille O’Neal eventually fulfilled his dream of becoming a DJ
After an enormously successful basketball career, Shaquille O’Neal went on to achieve everything else that he had on his bucket list. This includes being a rapper, a DJ, an actor, and an author. In the long list of professions he has embarked on, he has found a lot of love in being a DJ. He has performed at multiple clubs and also played at concerts.
Shaq performed at one of the biggest sets in Chicago’s music festival – Lollapalooza. The audience came out in numbers, and the NBA superstar stated it to be his biggest live performance ever. The NBA player went on a tour of Europe with his son Myles O’Neal in July of this year. He had a blast performing across the continent. The player believes DJing to be a great way of connecting with his son Myles.
