Shaquille O’Neal has done pretty well for himself, professionally. After dominating the league for almost two decades, O’Neal invested time and money in making smart business decisions. Thanks to the money he’s earned from NBA contracts, investments, endorsements, and other business ventures, Shaq has created a massive $400,000,000 empire. The Big Aristotle has been retired for more than a decade, but now wishes he could play in the league today. Envious of the young players signing lucrative contracts, the 51-year-old admitted to Bobbi Althoff, who is 26 years old, that he wished he was her age. All so he could earn $700,000,000 in the NBA.
Advertisement
In today’s league, superstars are being compensated better than ever before. Just this off-season, Jaylen Brown signed the richest contract in NBA history. Shaq has been open about his jealousy over the likes of Brown, Anthony Davis, and Rudy Gobert, among many others, being rewarded with such massive contracts. Reacting to the deals being signed this free agency, the TNT analyst took to social media, hilariously demanding a 10-day, $350,000,000 deal.
Shaquille O’Neal, a $700,000,000 commodity in today’s era?
Shaquille O’Neal was the latest celebrity to make an appearance on Bobbi Althoff’s ‘The Really Good Podcast’. During the 45-minute-long episode, the two personalities spoke about a wide range of topics. At one point in the episode, the Los Angeles Lakers legend revealed his wish to be Bobbi’s age (26) so that he could earn $700,000,000 in the league.
“I wish I was your age cause I’d be making $700,000,000 right now. Because a lot of these young guys are my age, that’s what they’re making now,” Shaq claimed.
When Althoff asked Shaq whether or not he tried playing, the latter disclosed the complications his recent hip surgery caused.
“Yes, I have (tried playing) and I am terrible at it. I can’t even jump… I just had hip surgery,” Shaq revealed.
The 7-footer was a dominant force in the league up until the end of his 17th professional campaign. During the 2008-2009 season, “Superman” averaged 17.8 points and 8.4 rebounds. However, gruesome injuries in his legs saw a massive dip in his production. Despite signing a two-year contract extension in the summer of 2010, lingering injuries forced the four-time Champion to retire by the end of the 2010-2011 campaign.
Inside the NBA discusses Shaq’s hip surgery
Earlier in the year, Shaquille O’Neal underwent a hip surgery. During an episode of NBA on TNT’s ‘Inside the NBA’, the crew acknowledged and congratulated Shaq for the same. This is when O’Neal revealed how Chares Barkley helped him through the surgery.
A few weeks ago, Kenny Smith even revealed that prior to his surgery, Shaq could’ve very easily played in the NBA for 5-10 minutes a night. Admittedly, it is likely that Smith was exaggerating a bit about Shaq’s health here. Still, it would have been fun to see a middle-aged Shaq try his hand at playing in the NBA.
