Back in 2015, LA Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal revealed his best Christmas present ever, during an interview with Graham Bensinger. O’Neal reminisced about a heartwarming story from his childhood which involved his late father, Phillip A. Harrison. Shaq claimed that he had previously seen his father borrow money in order to get Christmas gifts for his brother and sisters. O’Neal shared the clip on his Instagram recently.
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This led to one particular occasion when Shaq was convinced he was not going to get a Christmas present. “ If the money was tight, he would pull me to the side and be like, Big Man, I gotta take care of your sisters, Imma get the Barbies and the Barbie’s houses they want, I am coming up short. I will get you next time,” Shaq revealed.
However, this particular occasion saw Phillip Harrison give Shaq what proved to be the best Christmas present he ever got. “One morning, everybody was out opening presents and I thought, I wasn’t getting a present and he opened the door, Let’s go play some ball. Boom, and there was a Dr. J ball,” Shaq said, obviously touched.
He claimed that this was followed by his dad taking him out for a Knicks game, some weeks later. “Best present he got me, was an autographed Dr. J ball. Dr. J. was my man. Couple of weeks after that, he got some Knicks tickets. Dr. J. goes baseline throws it down, crowd goes crazy. That’s when I said okay, this is what I want to do,” he said, before revealing that the experience completely changed him.
“I am a changed man. From that day on, no more juvenile delinquent, tried better in school, stayed out of trouble. Coz Dr. J. went baseline, the crowd went crazy, I was like, I want that. I want people to scream my name,” he revealed.
A young O’Neal could not believe how much love Julius Erving got during the match. Shaq immediately became determined to one day be in the same position.
Hence, not only did his father give him the best Christmas gift that Shaq ever got, but the game that he watched also influenced him to a great extent. O’Neal was suddenly a changed man and grew all the more determined to ensure he also made it to the NBA, one day.
Shaquille O’Neal is the biggest NBA philanthropic of all time
Harrison undoubtedly inculcated in Shaq a kindness and appreciation for the world that he still carries and holds dear. The eventual Lakers superstar never misses a chance to help others, has his own charity trust, and regularly hosts a range of charitable initiatives.
That includes his yearly Shaq-a-Claus initiative, where in he gives gifts to children in need every Christmas season. O’Neal once talked about the inspiration behind the initiative, again referencing the Erving-signed basketball that he received.
Shaq claimed that once upon a time, the Christmas gift ended up changing his life, and he was intent on having the same effect on as many children as possible. Regardless, a few days ago, artist John Hill gave another extremely thoughtful gift to Shaq.
The artist, according to an Instagram video by O’Neal, gave him a portrait of his late sister, Ayesha Harrison-Jex, along with his brother Jamal O’Neal. O’Neal seemed utterly grateful, as he explained in the video that the portrait included his two most favorite people in the world.
