While Shaquille O’Neal Only Built a ‘Broken Rim Tree’, Crossing All Absurdity Limits, NFL’s Darnell Dockett Once Spent $100,000 on a Pet Tiger

When it comes to owning weird stuff and spending ridiculous amount of dollars on seemingly absurd things, NFL and NBA players often top the charts. Gentle giant Shaquille O’Neal, who has seamlessly transitioned into an entrepreneur and broadcaster upon retirement, also features on this list. Famous for shattering backboards, Shaq turned his notorious habit into a legacy by building a full-fledged ‘broken rim-tree’.

While many fans absolutely loved this idea, some even called the whole process of adding rims of broken backboards to make a metal tree a bit weird. However, the same fans wouldn’t find Shaq’s idea that absurd upon learning that there is an NFL star who spent a whopping $100,000 on a pet Tiger.

Darnell Dockett purchased a pet alligator, after buying a Tiger

Darnell Dockett, who played for the Arizona Cardinals as a Defensive End for a decade, spent a large chunk of his money on odd, absurd and downright baffling stuff. Back in 2013, Darnell burnt $100,000 on a tiger cub which he lovingly named ‘buddy’. As one can expect, when the news of his purchase went viral, animal rights activists called the Feds on Darnell.

There were speculations that Darnell transported ‘buddy’ from Florida to Arizona, an act prohibited under the Federal Endangered Species Act. And that’s not it, Darnell even bought a couple of alligators to add to his collection. Moreover, he never shied away from flaunting his purchases on social media.

However, now if we look at the NFL star’s Instagram, all the posts that had resulted in controversies have disappeared. While Darnell announced his retirement from the league in 2016 after signing a one-day deal withe Cardinals, by then, through his off-field shenanigans, the DE had well and truly set the ‘absurdity standards’ way-way high.

Shaquille O’Neal is as successful an entrepreneur as he was a basketball player

Going by Darnell Dockett’s standards, Shaquille O’Neal’s lucrative purchases might seem quite mainstream for a superstar athlete. However, the reality is, his portfolio can make even the biggest of the sharks envious. As it turns out, O’Neal owns as many as 50 different brands.

As reported by The Franchise King, right from shopping centers, night clubs, movie theaters, to outlets of Auntie Annie, Papa John’s and Five Guys Burgers, Shaq owns everything. Moreover, he also owns a substantial chunk of shares of huge companies like Reebok, Forever 21, and Barneys New York.

All in all, it would be fair to say that Shaq is one of those few men who made their post-retirement stints even more successful than their sporting careers.