Shaquille O’Neal had a strained relationship with his biological father, Joseph Toney. O’Neal has spoken publicly about the emotional abuse he suffered as a child at the hands of his father, who was also physically abusive towards O’Neal’s mother.
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In his autobiography, O’Neal writes that his father was not present in his life for much of his childhood, and he only reconnected with him as an adult when he had made it big. Despite the difficult relationship, O’Neal has said that he has forgiven his father, and they have developed a more positive relationship lately.
However, he did have a father figure while growing up—Phillip A. Harrison. Although it took him too long to understand that Harrison was his stepfather, he learned more from him than he did from anyone else. He was the person who made him the giver that he is.
When Shaquille O’Neal learned an important lesson from his stepfather
Playing over 19 years in the NBA, and through his various investments and businesses after, Shaquille O’Neal made an amassing wealth of well over $400 million. He keeps doing some random acts of, kindness which he has been into since his early days in the NBA.
The inspiration for it though came from his stepfather who would do everything within his capabilities to give to those in need. Shaq once reminisced about what Phillip told him when he saw a homeless guy who turned out as a veteran who served in the army and gave up all the money and some cheeseburgers that they had on them.
“My father had $20, and he gave it all,” O’Neal described the incident where he had 5 cheeseburgers to eat later but his father also gave them to a stranger who could have been hungry for days. Watch him tell the story himself.
The Diesel is a big man with an even bigger heart
Decades later after his father taught him all those lessons, O’Neal has already done a lot for the community he came from. Still, the 7-foot-1 Lakers legend keeps giving whenever he finds an opportunity to do so.
Being an early investor in companies like Google Inc. and owning several restaurants and food chains across the nation helps him do it. But he made that fortune by working his way up from all the way down.
So, if you ever consider him to be an egomaniac and a troll who says absurd things about your favorite athlete on the sets of TNT, keep in mind he is just playing a character.
There are only a few people with that kind of money who are as kind as the Big Aristotle.
