Shaquille O’Neal has been an international icon since the 1990s. His size, dominance in basketball, and charisma always made him the center of attention. And according to him, being a superstar is something that Rob Lowe, one of his oldest friends, taught him.
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Shaq recently joined the critically acclaimed actors’ podcast to talk about when the two first met. Lowe didn’t even know that he inadvertently helped the former Los Angeles Laker when he was growing up. It was one of the first things that O’Neal talked about upon sitting down for the interview.
“Taught me how to be a Superstar,” O’Neal said on ‘Literally! With Rob Lowe’. “Who did?” Lowe asked.
The actor didn’t remember much from when the two first met. In fact, he misremembered where they even first ran into each other. But O’Neal had him covered.
“You did, because you were the first superstar I met,” Shaq revealed. “First time we met was at Roxbury. I was standing in line, and they wouldn’t let me in, and you saw me and you got me in. You were so nice, and I always said to myself, ‘If I become a big superstar like Rob Lowe, be nice to people.’”
Lowe was a big star in the 90s, and he had the kind of pull that could get people into places with the snap of a finger. Eventually, the same became true for the Big Diesel. But there was a time when he was completely unrecognizable.
Lowe appreciated Shaq’s remarks. Ever since that moment, O’Neal has taken his career to a whole new level. He had a decorated NBA run, made music, acted, became a constant presence on TV, and appeared in a litany of commercials.
However, Shaq never expected to become as famous as he ultimately did. And now that he is famous, he still does not like being treated like a celebrity, mostly because he does not want to be seen as a stereotypical rich person.
“I’ve been a nobody longer than I’ve been a somebody. When you’re a nobody, people treat you a certain way. So, now that I’m a somebody, I don’t want to be treated like a somebody,” O’Neal once said on The Pivot.
It is a good reminder that Shaq is as authentic as a celebrity gets. He went from being a well-known basketball player during his career to becoming a financially savvy, ever-present personality after retiring. Many people love him and see him as a great ambassador for the sport.
But it is especially cool to learn that O’Neal’s authenticity stems from a moment he shared with Lowe when he was younger. Sometimes the things we say or do feel insignificant in the moment, yet we forget that they can stay in someone else’s mind forever, even as life lessons. This was one of those moments, as Shaq never forgot the example Lowe set for him when they first met. https://thesportsrush.com/tag/shaquille-oneal/
