As gigantic as Shaquille O’Neal was on the basketball court, he was no midget when it came to his off-court affairs. Always having lived his life extravagantly, Shaq also looked out for the people around him. And not just that but Shaquille O’Neal’s tales of generosity extend to even strangers, people he only met once and decided to give them a memory that would go on to last them a lifetime.
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Well, this story is from 1997 when Shaquille O’Neal starred in the movie Steel. During the movie’s filming, Shaq was familiar with Venita Ozols-Graham, the assistant director of the movie. However, he wasn’t acquainted with her five-year-old daughter, Brigitte, and her silk Gecko.
Shaq noticed how attached Brigitte was to her stuffed gecko. In between takes, O’Neal would often lean down and enquire more about Brigitte’s gecko. During one such instance, Brigitte even allowed the Los Angeles Lakers legend to pet her stuffed gecko.
The next day, Shaquille O’Neal decided to give Brigitte a surprise that she would remember for a lifetime. Brigitte rushed to her mother, grabbed her hand, and dragged her to O’Neal’s trailer. That is where Shaq welcomed both the mother and daughter with an enormous terrarium, studded with beautiful rocks and plants. And in the middle were two fat-tailed geckos that O’Neal had purchased for a young Brigitte.
The gift was meant for Brigitte and O’Neal would’ve given it to her nonetheless. But he chose to include one small detail before Ozols-Graham’s daughter took them home. The Big Aristotle stated that the geckos were hers if she named one of them Shaq.
After the whole ordeal, Venita Ozols-Graham went on to reveal that her daughter came back running, only to gift Shaq the gecko doll in return. Ozols-Graham described it as a beautiful moment between Shaq and her daughter.
“The next day, Ozols-Graham was working when her daughter came running. “Mommy! Mommy!” she yelped. “Come with me!” Brigitte grabbed her hand and pulled her inside O’Neal’s trailer, where she was greeted by an enormous terrarium, overflowing with rocks and plants and starring a pair of fat-tailed geckos. “It’s all yours,” O’Neal said. “The only condition is you have to name one of them Shaq,”: From Three Ring Circus by Jeff Pearlman
Shaquille O’Neal would often indulge in random acts of kindness much like this one. He has numerous NGOs where the four-time NBA champion often donates millions to help the poor and needy, apart from his own. But this instance was more to make a young girl’s day and leave her with a memory that she would cherish forever.
Shaquille O’Neal’s heart of gold
Shaquille O’Neal may be a giant when it comes to his seven-foot frame but deep down, he is just a big child. And more often than not, Shaq does like to indulge in some childish, fun-inducing activities from time to time.
One such incident was when Shaquille O’Neal chose to playfully ‘kidnap’ his co-host Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith’s son KJ from school. Smith revealed the story during one of the episodes of Inside the NBA.
As The Jet narrated the story, Shaq, Charles Barkley, and Ernie Johnson could not contain their laughter. And if that weren’t enough, Smith revealed that he took his son to the mall and got him a haircut.
Shaquille O’Neal has always had love for the people who he is close to. He even goes a step extra to look out for his close friends’ relatives and acquaintances. Hopefully, fans always get to see and hear such Shaq stories because, well, they sure are wholesome.
