“We aren’t rich, I’M RICH”: Shaquille O’Neal explains how he keeps his sons and daughters grounded by making them focus on academics, like the Lakers legend’s own self

Shaquille O’Neal might mispronounce a couple of names on the sets of TNT, maybe several, but he still might be better than you academically.

Shaquille O’Neal is not only one of the biggest as well as the greatest athletes of the time, the former Lakers big man is also a Ph.D. holder in Human Resource Development.

The importance of education was instilled in him since childhood along with his love for basketball. But due to his draft into the NBA back in 1992, he had to drop out of Louisiana State University.

Having promised his parents he’d secure a degree, O’Neal went back to completing his education, starting with a BA in General Studies in 2000. Even after being one of the richest athletes ever, he did not forget to teach his children the importance of academics.

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“My kids are older now. They kind of upset with me. They’re not really upset, but they don’t understand. I tell them all the time we ain’t rich, I’m rich. No, you got to have bachelor’s or masters and then if you want to invest in one of your companies, you would have to present it to me, and I’ll let you know. I’m not giving you nothing. The girls, I’ll take care of the girls, but the boys, they’re not getting nothing.” Shaq once said.

On a recent “The Big Podcast with Shaq,” episode, the Diesel and former NFL pro-Spice Adams were playing a word pronunciation game. Shaq did quite well in pronouncing a variety of words, surprising his fellow hosts.

“I may act crazy, but I’m on your a*s when it comes to academics”: Shaquille O’Neal

Shaq is famous for not being able to pronounce NBA players’ names correctly, which should be the basic requirement of being an analyst. He fumbles Giannis Antetokounmpo’s name too often on Inside the NBA.

It might just be for entertainment purposes though because he sometimes even mispronounces the 2 time MVP’s first name wrong. As recently, he didn’t look even slightly uncomfortable in the word pronunciation game on his podcast. The 4-time NBA Champ said,

“I have four degrees, don’t ever get it twisted with me, I may act crazy, but I’m on your a*s when it comes to these academics.”

Nobody might have had any question on Shaq’s pronunciation or intelligence in general if he himself didn’t start making fun of himself in the first place. His deep voice sometimes makes it pretty hard to understand what he’s trying to say, but usually, it’s only when he’s not speaking from the sets.

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Apart from those two aforementioned degrees, Shaq has an MBA degree from the University of Phoenix and has also attended the Sportscaster U. broadcasting training camp, which prepared him for a career in sports journalism. His Inside the NBA show on TNT has been one of the best shows in the business for more than a decade.

So whoever had doubts about Big Shamrock’s smartness should question themselves. He’s one of the best businessmen in the NBA ever and we can guess why.