Shaquille O’Neal grew up in the absence of his drug-addict father Joe Toney. Joe was in prison while his mother, Lucille O’Neal, raised him with all the difficulties of being a financially weak African American. So, the relationship between the two was quite strong. She did marry a career army sergeant, Phillip A. Harrison, but even he wasn’t as financially strong. 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 $60,000 check and told her their days in debt were over.
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Playing at LSU, O’Neal was a 2-time All-American, 2-time SEC Player of the Year, NCAA men’s Player of the Year (1991), and hence a sure shot #1 pick in the 1992 Draft.
As soon as went in as the first pick for the Orlando Magic in 1992, O’Neal received a 4-year rookie contract worth $17.4 million. On top of that, he signed a sneaker deal with Reebok which paid him $2 million as a bonus. So, what would a youngster with that kind of money would do? Go on a shopping spree.
When Shaquille O’Neal told his mother they wouldn’t need any more layaway
In his 2001 book, Shaq Talks Back, Shaquille O’Neal reveals 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 was speaking 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 in Shaq Talks Back.
That was 19 years before he would go down as one of the greatest basketball players of all time, and bring down the curtains to his illustrious career in 2011 as a 4-time NBA champ. 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 Lucille and Phillip for the sacrifices they made in bringing him up. And he did so by gifting each of them a Mercedes car after he bought himself one.
The three cars made him $400,000 poorer as soon as earned his first million.
He still regrets how stupid he was to spend his hard-earned money without giving it much thought. Fast forward 31 years, 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.
