Although Shaquille O’Neal made his acting debut in 90s, the Lakers legend had a Hollywood connection knocking on his door long back, about which he details in his 2011 autobiography, Shaq Uncut. The Los Angeles Lakers icon had refused the actor Wayne Rogers the opportunity to become his accountant. Interestingly, the 7ft 1″ All-Star came to this decision due to the book of a fellow legendary NBA center, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
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Diesel’s desire to recruit an accountant circled around his after-tax income from the playing days. Despite supposedly earning $1 million from an endorsement deal, his in-hand payment was deducted to “between $500,000 and $600,000”. “I told my mother, ‘I need an accountant,'” Shaq recalled determining following this instance.
The 4x champion soon met the applicants in the meetings with the first candidate being Rogers. Reflecting on that moment, the 51-year-old thus mentioned, “The first person, believe it or not, was the actor Wayne Rogers, the guy who starred in the television show M*A*S*H. He came in and told me, ‘We’re going to get you this and get you that'”.
Despite the promises, the Big Aristotle refused to trust his luck after understanding the mistakes of Abdul-Jabbar. Upon reading the 6x champion’s book, his life mantra thus became, “If something appears too good to be true, then it probably is”. So, the 2000 MVP refused to hire Rogers, declaring, “Scratch off the M*A*S*H dude”.
Rather than being persuaded by the elegance of the moment, Shaq stayed cautious with his career’s first-ever million dollars. At the same time, it displayed the influence of NBA greats on his life as he blindly trusted the advice of a fellow Lakers icon without ever meeting him.
The choice paid Shaquille O’Neal back major dividends
Shaq’s then-agent, Leonard Armato assisted him throughout the recruitment process as the 1993 ROTY continued his search. Eventually, he onboarded Lester Knispel as his accountant after the latter left a great impression on Shaq’s parents. This decision transformed the financial situation for the center as the duo collaborated to create generational wealth.
Upon listening to the advice of Knispel, Diesel at first invested in coin-operated car washes in Orlando. This eventually resulted in a scare for the accountant as near about $250,000 went missing from the business’ profit. Following this, he flew to Orlando to discuss the matter with the NBA player as it paved the way for a ridiculous exchange.
Shaq had actually brought the entire amount home as he revealed in his autobiography, “I showed Lester my bedroom, where there were a whole bunch of wooden rain barrels—full of quarters”. This settled the matter as Knispel later “called the bank and told them he had $250,000 worth of quarters to deposit”.
Over the years, the duo shared several interactions such as this due to Diesel’s absurd spending habits. Yet, Knispel guided him on each occasion as the sports analyst allegedly possessed a net worth of $400 million. Looking back thus, it’s safe to conclude that the New Jersey-born made the right call early in his career as the following events changed his relationship with wealth.
