Shaquille O’Neal is one of the most successful NBA players we have seen. The 7’1″ big was drafted as the first pick in 1992, and played for 19 seasons in the NBA. In those 19 years, Shaq played for six different teams, winning four championships with two of them.
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Shaq was the driving force behind the last three-peat in the NBA, as he led the Los Angeles Lakers to consecutive championships between 2000 to 2002. After that, Shaq made his way to Miami in 2004, and won a championship with them in 2006.
Not only has Shaq been successful on the NBA court, but off of it as well. He has six beautiful children and a net worth of more than $400 Million. A part of the credit behind all of this may go to his ‘fraternity brother’ Michael Jordan.
Shaquille O’Neal credits Michael Jordan for the success in his life
Back in 1995, Shaq’s Orlando Magic took down Michael Jordan and his Bulls in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals. To date, Shaq takes pride in being the last player to knock out Michael Jordan from a playoff series.
The very next year, after Shaq and the Magic handed MJ the loss, they met again in the playoffs. This time, it was the Eastern Conference Finals. However, this time, Michael Jordan had been back for over a year and was back to his superhuman level. MJ and the Bulls swept the Magic.
Shaq reflected upon the same and said,
“Before I came to LA, Orlando Magic versus the Chicago Bulls, we had beaten them the year before, went to the finals and got swept… Michael Jordan came back stronger than ever, swept again”
“Michael was my fraternity brother, puts his hand on my shoulder and says before you succeed, you must first learn how to fail. But I had no idea what that meant”
Shaq didn’t quite get what Jordan meant at the moment, but MJ’s words stuck with him. They helped him tide the storms when Shaq and Kobe, who had tons of expectations on them, could not win in their initial years.
Apart from his professional life, these also helped him through his personal life.
Shaq is a multi-millionaire worth over $400 Million
Over the course of his career, Shaq earned around $292 Million as player salaries. However, he wasn’t too careful with his spending initially. We heard incidents of when he went to Walmart and racked up a bill of $70,000 in one trip.
However, he changed his ways, and now has a net worth of $400 Million. This could all be credited to his smart investments, endorsement deals, and good business decisions. Growing up with little to nothing, Shaq knew he didn’t want that life for himself anymore and worked his way to get where he is today.
