Shaquille O’Neal was one of the best players of all time. However, he might have not been the most disciplined, especially during his time at the LA Lakers. Speaking on the NBA on TNT show back in 2015, Shaq revealed that he used to regularly get fined during his time under the legendary Phil Jackson. Shaq revealed that he got fined for showing up late “for almost every game.” Claiming to be a “creature of habit,” the former big man revealed that he simply could not help leaving half an hour before the reporting time despite staying an hour away from the arena.
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The admission led to some hilarious stories from the rest of the cast. The likes of Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith also talked about their experiences with team fines, and how they coped with it. Smith in particular had a hilarious story of how he ended up winning the fine money back and bought his first piece of jewelry with it.
Shaquille O’Neal reveals he got fined for showing up late to almost every game
O’Neal hilariously described himself as a “creature of habit.” The habit in question was however a bad one, that of tardiness.
Shaq turned to Kenny Smith and talked about how he lived in Mullholand at Beverley Glen, which was an hour away from the Lakers’ arena. Still, out of habit, he would leave just half an hour before the reporting time, in order to make a “fun time” of getting to his destination:
I always got fined, for being late. Because I was a creature of habit, so say the game started at 7 30 I had to be there at 5 30. I lived around an hour away but I always like to press it. Kenny, you know I lived at that Mullholand at Beverly Glen, so I would leave at 5 and me and Jerome would make it like a fun time trying to get to the arena. So I probably got fined in every game for being late because I never made the arena at 5 30 because I don’t have to go down Ventura, get on the 101 downtown, get back on Olympic.”
Shaq revealed how Jackson’s high standards meant that he showed no mercy to his lateness. The result was that O’Neal was fined for almost every game, and still could not help himself.
Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley also had hilarious stories about being fined
Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith both also talked about being fined during their careers. Smith, in particular, claimed that he was fined often during his time at the Houston Rockets.
However, the fine money was collected and the team would shoot to win it every other week. This meant that Kenny still had a chance of winning his money back. Once, when he did so, he ended up buying a gaudy chain, claiming it to be the first piece of jewelry he had ever bought. Smith seemed delighted with the memory and talked about how he would show off the chain to his teammates.
Barkley, on the other hand, claimed that he was never a “late guy,” and Shaq seemed to agree. Chuck claimed that he had only been late around 10 times during his 16-year career, which is an incredible feat.
