Shaquille O’Neal is one of the icons of the modern era of basketball.
Advertisement
Shaq is one of the most decorated players to have played basketball and is a Hall of Famer. The former Lakers center was the best player of the last three-peating team of basketball and arguably the best player in the world at his peak.
Big Diesel or Superman as he is christened by the media is also renowned for his off-the-court work. This, not including his act as an analyst on Inside the NBA.
Media career aside, Superman is also Superman to his people.
Shaq’s proficiency earned him the big bucks. Big Diesel is worth north of $400 million and is a believer of the “bigger you earn the bigger you give” ethos.
Superman’s charitable nature has definitely been on display in public. One particular family of twelve has a lot to attribute to the big man.
How did Shaq change the lives of this big family?
The Collins family is a family of 10 kids and their parents. The big family was struggling to make life comfortable for their clan of young ones. And it took a big man to offer a hand up.
O’Neal is credited to have changed the life of the family by Karissa Collins, who operates “The Collins Kids”. “The Collins Kids” is an Instagram page that documents the life of the Collins as a big family.
The 7-footer reportedly took the family out for a dinner at Babe’s Kitchen. Subsequently, Shaq took the entire family out to a Mercedes Benz dealership to get them a new van as they outgrew their older van.
Once, while the former superstar took the Collins out, a whopping sum was dished out as a tip too. The lucky waitress of the table earned herself $1,000 by serving Big Diesel.
All of the above goes to show the charitable nature of the former superstar. A destroyer of souls on the court, O’Neal’s philanthropy has added a layer to his legacy. Free throws might just be all that Shaq missed in life.
Also read: Shaquille O’Neal helped fans earn upto $250,000 through a brilliant Reebok-led initiative
