Shaquille O’Neal grew up in the absence of his biological father Joe Toney. His mother, Lucille O’Neal, raised him with all the difficulties of being a financially weak African American. They were always in debt until Shaq made it to the NBA. And so, when her 20-year-old once took her shopping, Lucille was looking for a layaway, but then Shaq wrote a check and told her their days in debt were over.
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In his 2001 book, Shaq Talks Back, O’Neal revealed how, even before playing one NBA game, he went on a shopping spree and was racking up 70-inch speakers, 50-inch TVs, and VCRs.
That’s when his mom brought the manager of the store aside and spoke with him about layaway. The Big Aristotle stopped her right there to tell her their layaway days were over and that he was writing a check for the purchase then and there.
“Looking at my mother, I said, ‘Mommy, layaway days are over. We’ll never be on layaway again. I promise you. I’m writing a check for $60,000 right now. You hear me. It’s over,’” O’Neal wrote.
That was years before he would go down as one of the greatest basketball players of all time. But that wasn’t the only shopping spree he’d go for after earning millions as a rookie.
Shaq used his first Million to gift cars to his parents
As a newly made Millionaire, rookie Shaq had aspirations to bring joy to his mother Lucille and step-father Phillip for the sacrifices they made in bringing him up. He did so by gifting each of them a Mercedes car after he bought one for himself.
The three cars set him back $400K as soon as he earned his first Million.
Shaq still regrets how stupid he was to spend his hard-earned money without giving it much thought. Fast-forward 31 years, and his on-court earnings, several endorsements, smart investments, business mentality, and hunger for success have now made him a net worth of over $400 Million.
