“I Trained 4 Years to Run 9 Seconds”: Shaquille O’Neal Shows Love to Usain Bolt’s Incredible Mentality

Usain Bolt has always dominated the greatest athlete ever conversation, along with legends like Michael Phelps and Carl Lewis. As great as Bolt was in his prime years, he once said something so timeless and real about his career that summarized his whole legacy in words. NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal couldn’t help sharing it on his Instagram stories. Anytime Shaq hears a quote or a story that captures his attention, he shares it with his millions of fans on social media.

While Shaq was playing for the Phoenix Suns, he once said that his running form is like Bolt. Well, not exactly. During a practice session, Shaq was seen talking to Robin Lopez, waiting for his layup drill in the line. Shaq declared to Lopez that he had Bolt’s form as a runner, but ended up butchering the Olympian’s name. The Diesel said, “My form is like Osain Bolton.”

Shaquille O’Neal shares a video of Usain Bolt’s quote

The Los Angeles Lakers legend shared a video of a man saying that one quote from Bolt had hit him hard in his chest. In the video, the man reads the quote in the background, while the eight-time Olympic gold medalist can be seen breaking the 100 meters world record. The quote was, “I trained four years to run nine seconds.” “And people give up when they don’t see those results in two months,” the man added. These lines are bound to hit hard any person struggling with motivation and discipline, and that’s exactly the reason why the Big Aristotle shared it. 

After his retirement from basketball, Shaq has changed his approach to life and to people, making a 180-degree turn. He has been more passionate, empathetic, and most importantly, he has started to actively give back to society. Over the years, from his NBA money and other business ventures, the 3-time NBA Finals MVP has amassed over $400,000,000 in net worth for himself. Stacking up that amount is not easy and requires a person to stay motivated for years on end.

Shaq is himself a teacher when it comes to being an example on and off the court. He has not only been a motivation for people with the name that he has made for himself and his family, but he has also made sure to share other great people’s thoughts to enrich his fans’ minds.

Shaq says his character and personal ethics were instilled in him by his parents

The Big Aristotle is not only big on words, but he also understands the wisdom of giving to people. Shaq has credited his parents for instilling the behaviors of the man that he is today:

“Because of what a man that made $30,000 taught me. From a woman who was a secretary, probably made $20,000 a year. They taught me that. So you know, a lot of people when they look at me and the charities that I do…it’s just from the heart!”

There have been a lot of incidents where the four-time NBA champion has shown that his heart is perhaps bigger than most people. He severed his deal with Adidas and started to make his own cheaper shoes because a mother had complained about the expensive shoes that Adidas was selling. The Big Diesel has also said that giving back is also part of his business ethos.