Shaquille O’Neal (Credits: Men’s Health, X)
Shaquille O’Neal had a remarkable journey that has left countless people inspired. From his humbling beginnings to having a net worth of $400 million, he truly made the best of what he had. Shaq started playing basketball around the age of 16 when he was in high school and never looked back. There are countless tales about his childhood, and he recently narrated another which showed the troublesome side.
While many just see the surface of Shaq’s life, only a few are aware of his difficult childhood. Shaq’s biological father Joseph Toney abandoned his family and was later arrested due to possession of drugs. He reportedly spent six years in jail. Despite this Shaq holds no grudges against him. Notably, the Lakers star likely inherited his basketball skills from his Toney who was a high school basketball player.
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Furthermore, Shaq was mainly raised by his mother Lucille O’Neal alone. Then she eventually married Philp Harrison who supported their family. Interestingly, Lucille was once ready to fistfight with a bus driver who refused to believe that Shaq was two years old. Recently, Shaq opened up about his troublesome side in childhood when he used to steal.
The 4x NBA Championship title winner revealed, “If you mention my name we made it because it was times me and King robbed a couple of stores.” He continued to talk about how police ran up on them and they used to move left-right in an attempt to cut the projects. “We are 135 and know we are stealing stuff, never got caught by authorities.”, Shaq added as he spoke about crazy stature limitations.
Shaquille O’Neal used to get hit by belt all the time for stealing
The conversation on ‘The Big Podcast with Shaq‘ about Shaq stealing in childhood just kept on getting more interesting. Shortly after O’Neal narrated the stealing and how he never got caught, Adam Lefkoe asked him about the last time he stole. The NBA player successfully dodged the question and laughed as Lefkoe made various funny comments.
Additionally, the NBA star revealed how he used to get hit by a belt all the time for stealing. He spoke about how when they used to come home and empty their pockets. Furthermore, he reminisced about how his father used to say “You got sh*t from strangers.” Not only this, Shaq acted like he was taking out his belt to show how his father used to do it.
Furthermore, Shaq and Lefkoe briefly spoke about how they used to get threatened in childhood. Lefkoe never got hit by a belt, whereas, Shaq used to get hit all the time. This somewhat came as a shock for his fans but when Shaq narrates a story, it is always funny. Just like his ‘pink thong‘ tale or the time his card got declined at Walmart.
