“Try Not to Be Hypocrites”: Shaquille O’Neal Answers Fan Question, Discusses Getting Calls From His Kids

As a father of seven children, Shaquille O’Neal knows first-hand what it is to deal with children, who become more and more distant as they find their pathways. On his ‘The Big Podcast’, a woman of three children asked his advice as her children refused to return her calls. In his reply, Shaq reflected upon his experience as a kid and how he understands why children can sometimes abandon communication with their parents.

In the case of Shaq, when he began his collegiate basketball journey with LSU, he also had infrequent conversations with his parents. Therefore, as per Shaq, if he calls out his children for not replying then he would be adhering to double standards. Owing to this reasoning, he urged for a non-hypocritical approach.

“When it comes to my kids I try not to be hypocrites. I did the same thing with my parents. I left June 6, 1989. We didn’t have cellphones back then but we had a dorm cell, I wasn’t calling like that. Definitely when I turned pro, definitely wasn’t calling like that. I should have called more,” lamented the 3x Finals MVP.

Now that he is getting similar treatment from his kids, the big fella realizes how his lack of communication must have hurt his parents. However, without complaining, Shaq stated that he tries to be there for his kids whenever they need him. Also, he regretted the chances that he missed imbibing some more knowledge about the world from his stepfather Sargeant Phillip Harrison. But what he said later left a mystery.

Does Shaquille O’Neal have seven children?

Later in the podcast, O’Neal talked about how he has had “no problem” with any of his “seven” children. This number “seven” can bring in a host of questions. Fans know about Shaq’s six children pretty well at this point but have never come across his seventh kid. The former Lakers Center is frequently seen with his eldest Taahirah O’Neal on Instagram and even took her to his Inside the NBA set.

Taahirah was born to O’Neal in 1996 with his ex-girlfriend Arnetta Yardbourgh. He is also seen DJing with his eldest son Myles B. O’Neal, who is the second eldest among his children. Interestingly, Myles is not his biological son and was born from his ex-wife Shaunie O’Neal’s previous relationship.

Apart from that, his second-eldest son Shareef O’Neal is well-known considering how he chased an NBA dream with his father hyping him up. However, a cardiac arrest took the steam out of his journey. Meanwhile, Shaq is also seen with his second-eldest Amirah O’Neal quite frequently. His youngest son 20-year-old Shaqir O’Neal is a Sophomore for the Texas Southern Tigers hoops squad.

His youngest child Me’arah O’Neal could be the next breakout star from the O’Neal family. The 17-year-old has stamped the ticket to the 2024 All-American McDonald’s and is a consensus four-star recruit. While details about his six children are out in the open, his seventh kid is an enigma thus far.