Shaquille O’Neal grew up without his biological father, Joseph Toney, in the picture. His mother, Lucille O’Neal, would go on to remarry as she tied the knot with ex-military man, Philip Harrison. Harrison, despite being Shaq’s stepfather, never took up that term as Shaq wouldn’t allow him to.
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‘The Big Aristotle’ shared an extremely close connection both of his parents. While Harrison focused on getting his son into the NBA and disciplining him, his mother would be a source of endearment for him. To this day, despite Shaq being 50 years of age, he continues to take advice from Lucille.
Prior to every single game he played in the NBA, both mother and son had quite the heart-warming pre-game ritual. She would hand him a stick of bubblegum and give him a kiss, which was followed up by her telling him, “Play your game.”
Shaquille O’Neal on what it means to be a real man
Shaquille O’Neal has made it very clear that he owes a lot of his success to his mother. So much so that he’s worked all of his life to provide a better life for the woman who raised him regardless of what situations she was put into as a single mother.
“Any man that doesn’t keep a promise to his mother is not a real man. Any man that doesn’t love his mother or any woman for that matter is not a real man. My mom has worked hard for me. The reason why I’ve worked hard for her is because I appreciated that.”
Lucille O’Neal has since gone on to appear at several events as a speaker and opened up about what it was like raising a child who would eventually go on to become one of the most recognizable figures in North America.
Shaquille O’Neal has spent millions on his mother
Shaquille O’Neal made sure he treated his mother right after making it to the NBA. One of the biggest purchases he made while in the league was a $1 million house just for Lucille. He would however, call this an ‘affordable mistake’.
He even bought his mother and father a Mercedes each right after getting drafted by the Orlando Magic in 1992.
