“Didn’t Grow Up With Silver Spoons”: When Shaquille O’Neal Bought 2 Kids in Spain MacBook Air Over Childhood Reminder

Shaquille O’Neal is not only one of the best basketball players ever, but he’s also one of the best humans to ever play in the NBA. Shaq has a history of charitable acts, one of which was an incident from a few years ago in which he bought two Spanish children a couple of new MacBook Airs. Shaq was in town for a music event, but seeing the kids in the store reminded him of his childhood.

He detailed how he felt their plight, as he himself grew up without a lot of privilege. He was reminded of how he and his cousin would be in similar situations, and spoke about it to TNT, saying,

“Little black kid that’s struggling and window shopping, that’s most African-American kids. We don’t grow up with silver spoons.”

Despite the kids not knowing English and not even knowing who he was (one hilariously guessed Michael Jordan), Shaq made their day after learning that they were in the store looking all the time but never bothered anyone. “That was me and my cousin, that was me and my little brother,” he reminisced.

He bought each of them a new laptop, and their stunned smiles lit up the room and even brought a saleswoman to tears. “He does that all the time,” said Shaq’s friend.

In the video, Shaq said his ultimate goal is to one day open a school with his mother’s name on it, but that “We just want to help people out. We just want to do the right thing.”

Shaq’s acts of charity extend to people of all races, because as he said,  “The problems we have in America are taught, especially racism. So I want every race of little babies just playing. Black playing with white kids, Chinese, Asian. That’d be (whistles), whew, my mother would cry.”

Shaquille O’Neal has always been a stand-up guy

Though he was a physically imposing terror on the court, Shaq has always been a giant teddy bear off it, and his charitable efforts extend far and wide. He’s been instrumental in helping the Boys & Girls Club improve its facilities around the country, and his Shaquille O’Neal Foundation has helped thousands of kids through its Shaq-to-School and Shaq-a-Claus programs.

Shaq is infamous for never turning down a sponsorship opportunity, but when he’s using his money for good, who can blame him? This is a guy who’s not only a Basketball Hall-of-Famer, he’s someone who has spread joy and helped disadvantaged kids around the world for as long as he’s been in the public spotlight. If that means we have to see him in a few commercials for Icy Hot or the General’s Insurance, that seems like a pretty good trade-off to make.