As soon as he made his debut in the NBA in 1992, Shaquille O’Neal instantly became one of the best big men in the NBA. One of the most dominant forces in the league of the second half of the 90s and then of all time minted a lot of money purely based on the unstoppable he was at the time.
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The Diesel became NBA’s biggest contract holder after he made his first move from the Orlando Magic to the LA Lakers in 1996.
However, it was just because of the hype of size, agility, and athleticism or the recency bias, he had planned to become NBA’s biggest earner when he hadn’t even played his first college game at LSU.
Also read: Shaquille O’Neal And Kevin Hart Hilariously Fight About Cowboys-Eagles At Super Bowl LVII
Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf tells an inspirational Shaquille O’Neal story
O’Neal joined LSU in 1989 when Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, a sophomore guard, was the star of the team. This team should have won everything there was in college basketball at the time, but things didn’t work out too well between the two future NBA stars.
However, Mahmoud still remembers the day he first met Shaq and what he told him. He talked about it in his recent appearance on All The Smoke, revealing O’Neal told him that, “I am going to be the First Guy to Make $80 Million.”
The man bagged 40 more. And then more. A 7-year $120 Million contract by the Lakers for the 7ft 1′ center was the highest in NBA history. The man didn’t disappoint. He averaged over 27 points, 11 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks per game in his stay in LA, bringing in 3 championships while he won three Finals MVPs.
But that wasn’t the only $80M+ contract he’d receive.
Shaq’s Heat contract was even better
After his sweet-bitter time with the Lakers, he joined Dwyane Wade in Maimi and got another contract worth even more than his last one. He got a 5-year $100M contract from the Heat and again became NBA’s highest earner in the 2004-05 and 05-06 seasons after Kevin Garnett had taken over him in the 2000-01 season.
Although he wasn’t as impactful for the Heat as he was for his former employers, he did help D-Wade and the Miami Heat franchise win its first (of 3) championship(s) in 2006. In his 19-year career, he made $292,198,327 in total which adjusted for inflation would be around $473,583,018. Insane.
O’Neal has made a net worth of over $400 million through his businesses and investments over the years to be one of the richest athletes in the world. What an inspiration!
Also read: Shaquille O’Neal, Having Amassed $400 Million, Once Shared His ‘True Definition’ of Being Rich
