“I was a Medium-Level Juvenile Delinquent”: Shaquille O’Neal Justified Acting in Kazaam by Revealing His $7 Million Paycheck

Director Paul Michael Glaser’s 1996 movie Kazaam remains a forgettable affair and was panned by critics severely after its release. Shaquille O’Neal, one of the protagonists of the movie, also faced flak for what was perceived to be terrible acting on his part. However, as usual, the big fella had his reasons to take part in this trainwreck of a movie. In 2012, the former Lakers Center touched upon his reasons for taking up the role in the film.

In a GQ interview, Shaq was asked why he would take up a role that was built to fail. “I was a medium-level juvenile delinquent from Newark who always dreamed about doing a movie,” the big man told GQ.

He added, “Someone said, ‘Hey, here’s $7 million, come in and do this genie movie.’ What am I going to say, no? So I did it.”

Considering Shaq’s business portfolio, this reasoning doesn’t seem all that incredible. The four-time NBA Champion is on every billboard and every TV screen trying to endorse a product. Shaq’s larger-than-life persona, mixed with his wit and charm, has always been a gold mine of marketability in the country. So a genie movie in his 20s doesn’t seem to be that hard a sell.

While the premise of a 5000-year-old Genie popping out of a magic lamp to a 14-year-old boy is based on the cult-classic Aladdin, the delivery of the modern rendition was way too off.

But what audience was O’Neal targeting through this movie? 24 years after the release of this box-office bomb, in 2020, the former Magic Center spoke to Yahoo on the phone and revealed, “It’s for kids that are from 2 to 7, because when they see me, they think I’m magic. As long as they think I’m magic, who cares what adults say?”

Shaq’s intended audience may have been kids, but he became a butt of jokes among many adults. And his colleague and friend Charles Barkley didn’t miss out on this golden opportunity to roast him.

Charles Barkley dissed Shaquille O’Neal for Kazaam

Barkley slipped in a Kazaam joke once when Shaq was in a solemn mood. During an Inside the NBA segment a few years ago, the Lakers legend had shared a Jordan quote after the Bulls swept Shaq’s Magic in the 1996 Finals. In an earnest demeanor, Shaq revealed, “He [MJ] grabbed me and he told me a quote that I’d never forget, ‘Before you succeed, you must first learn to fail.’” After Shaq repeated the quote, Barkley quipped, “He didn’t tell you he wants to be in Kazaam 2?”

Upon hearing this response, host Ernie Johnson couldn’t control his laughter while Kenny Smith also laughed briefly. The big fella certainly didn’t appreciate the timing of the joke and looked furious. However, Johnson mopped up things before they got out of hand.