Shaquille O’Neal had quite a similar career and business pathway to one of his idols and Lakers legend – Earvin Magic Johnson.
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When the NBA community and LA Lakers were fresh off superstar Magic Johnson taking early retirement from the NBA, there was a future Purple and Gold star coming into the league who will also lead them to multiple Championships, winning three Finals MVPs like Johnson along the way.
Although their games were drastically different from one another, Shaquille O’Neal did a lot many things similar to Magic in his career that did not only make him a Los Angeles legend, but also a world-famous athlete like one of his idols of the game.
The Big Aristotle followed suit of the arguable Lakers GOAT and pursued business and entrepreneurial dreams, that too, before his retirement in 2011. He also became a TNT analyst when the 12x All-Star was already a 10-year veteran at it with TNT and ESPN.
While the 15x All-Star, O’Neal, is yet to catch up to Johnson as a businessman because of some of his questionable antics as well as Magic’s better investments, he did beat him somewhere and the 7-foot-1 giant was really happy about it.
Also read: $400 million Shaquille O’Neal ’s questionable TV show cost him $500,000 in damages alone!
When Shaquille O’Neal hilariously trolled his idol for The Magic Hour
Superstar athletes and Hollywood has had deep connections with each other for a long time. And when you are a star in LA or New York, you sometimes get a lot more attention off the court than on it.
NBA stars are longtime celebrity guests for comedy shows, sitcoms, and late-night shows. And Shaq for one is arguably the most entertaining of these shows. He couldn’t be more proud of himself for being the host of a late-night show longer than the 5x NBA champ.
For those of you who didn’t get that hilarious joke, it was a dig at Magic’s 1998 show “The Magic Hour” that ran for just four months and its producers at Fox had to shut it down because of its low ratings.
Meanwhile, Shaq always skyrockets the rating of shows like Jimmy Kimmel Live and The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, not just when he is a recurring guest but also when he is a one-night replacement for those late-night legends.
That’s not the only TV show where the $400 million worth O’Neal has beaten $620M Johnson. The man has been the pillar of the best crew of sports analysts alongside Chuck, Kenny, and Ernie on Inside the NBA for the better part of a decade.
Also read: $600M Lakers executive chose Magic Johnson because of his smile and style, according to Jeanie Buss
