Shaquille O’Neal has a net worth of half a billion US dollars. But growing up, Shaq had limited resources. This posed a problem because he was a very big kid and needed custom shoes from an early age. At the age of 13, Shaq couldn’t find shoes in the market that fit his feet at an affordable price.
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Therefore, the big fella’s mother reached out to one specific salesman in the Atlanta area who provided shoes to size 26.
On an appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show around a year ago, Shaq had revealed how that salesman in Atlanta, a man by the name of Bruce Teilhaber, helped him out of a tight spot. Shaq actually needed dress shoes for prom, but the price proved to be too much for his family as the only available shoes sold for $200.
Teilhaber insisted that Shaq take the shoes for no charge but on one condition. He knew that Shaq would make it to the NBA easily at his size, so all he wanted was the big man’s loyalty to his store, Friedman’s, once he did make it to the league.
“My father called him one day, because I needed dress shoes for prom, and they were $200 and we couldn’t afford them. Bruce said, ‘Hey Sarge I know who your son is, he’s going to be an NBA player, when he makes it to the NBA just make sure he comes and buys shoes from me.'”
“And I’ve been buying my shoes from him ever since,” Shaq said.
The four-time NBA Champion never forgot Bruce’s kind gesture. He’s currently 52 and it speaks volumes about his heart and his character that he stayed loyal to the store for 40 years despite being pretty much of a shoe brand himself.
O’Neal has never shied away from talking about how growing up with large feet was a struggle for his family, and he’s made it his mission to help out other people who have the same problem.
How Shaq helps out people in similar situations
Shaq holds the record for the largest registered shoe size in the NBA at 22. Of course, this made shopping difficult for him, even after he got a pro contract. His size was never readily available, so he always had to wait till it was custom-made.
Since retiring, Shaq has made sure no other kid with big feet would ever suffer the way he did. In fact, he helped out Eric Kilburn Jr., the teenager who holds the Guinness World Record for the largest feet as a teenager, at a whopping size 23.
After Kilburn’s plight went viral, Shaq personally sent him extras that he had. Shaq’s sympathetic nature helped out a child in need, and he explained how he had so many extras readily available with him saying,
“My shoe size is 20 but I like to wear a 22 because when I was young we couldn’t afford proper shoes so I had to wear my shoes tight. [Now] I always get my shoes too big to make sure I have room.”
He also helped out a local from Atlanta and took him to his favorite store, Friedman’s, to ensure that he would be well-stocked for the future. Zach Keith, a basketball player from Georgia, wears a whopping size 18 at the age of 13, and Shaq became sympathetic of the young man’s problem after learning about it.
O’Neal said he related to the teen’s story. “Mom couldn’t afford shoes. The kid had big feet. I just kind of reminisced about how that used to be me, my mom and my dad,” he said.
He ended up buying 10 different pairs of shoes for the kid, once again showing why he’s such a beloved figure in his community.
