Shaquille O’Neal had received a lot of criticism during his early days in the NBA for his inclination toward hip-hop. The Diesel didn’t feel it was necessary to give up his passion for making music just because he was a full-time basketball player now. On the contrary, his association with the NBA provided him more opportunities to showcase his lyrical talents. Shaq’s association with the rap industry would reach its peak after his $120 million move to Los Angeles. His stint as the centerpiece of the Lakers organization would bring him in contact with some of the greatest rappers of all time. Even though most members of the NBA community believed that hip-hop was a detriment to his career, Shaq recently revealed how rap music helped him win Championships. In fact, the Diesel has named two companies that took him over the hump three times in a row 21 years ago.
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Widely regarded as the greatest NBA duo ever, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant led the Lakers to a three-peat in 2002, only the fifth NBA team to achieve the incredible feat. To put things into perspective, no team since then has been able to replicate what the Lakers achieved over two decades ago, not only in the NBA, but in any of the other three major sporting leagues in the country as well- NHL, NFL and MLB. However, it all apparently came down to two record companies to see things through.
Shaquille O’Neal credits two companies for his three-peat with the Lakers
Shaquille O’Neal’s love for music is well-known in the NBA community. The 7’1 giant has built a lucrative career in DJing after retiring from the league. Not to mention his iconic rap career back in the 90s, which saw him collab with some of the biggest names in the industry, like Jay-Z, Biggie, and Nas, to name a few.
However, Shaq recently provided a fresh perspective to his association with hip-hop. As it turns out, rap music was essential for the Big Man to dominate the hardwood. Shaq recently shared a reel on his Instagram stories that explained how two companies helped him win the three-peat for the Lakers. The reel from ShaqFu Radio featured the Big Man’s own account of the golden days:
Shaq names 2 companies that helped him win three chips with the Lakers pic.twitter.com/kf5Jsasr8G
— NBA stories (@SS75352476) June 23, 2023
“There’s only two companies I can thank to help me win a championship-No Limit and Death Row. I can remember riding to the game playing ‘Murder Was the Case’…’Make Them Say Ugh’. So between Master P and Snoop and Suge Knight and Lil Wayne and all those guys-No Limit and Death Row, I wanna thank you guys for helping me win three championships in a row.”
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Both No Limit and Death Row Records, featuring the likes of Snoop Dogg, Master P, 2Pac and others, dominated the rap scene in the 90s and early 2000s. Therefore, it’s not surprising to see the Big Diesel credit them for his Championship wins.
Shaq had his own music deal back in the day
Shaq made his mark with his music in the 90s despite being a dominant presence on the NBA hardwood. The four-time NBA champion even went platinum with his debut album, Shaq Diesel.
Not only that, the Lakers icon also managed to bag a 3-album $10 million deal completely out of the blue. So it’ll fair to say that, Shaq is not only one of the greatest basketball players of all time, but a prominent hip-hop aficionado of his time as well. Not many have been able to add as much value to the hip-hop scene as the Big Aristotle had back in his heydays.
