10 surprising things you didn’t know about Shaquille O’Neal

Everything Shaquille O’Neal does is on a grand scale, and he’s been in the public eye for over 30 years. He’s had a remarkable NBA career and is one of the most affable personalities ever. We have 10 facts about the basketball Hall of Famer that are slam dunks.

It can feel like O’Neal isn’t a real person, but he deals with common diagnoses just like the rest of us. The former NBA center has sleep apnea, although you might not guess that considering the energy he brings to television.

According to Dental Sleep Practice’s website, O’Neal was diagnosed with sleep apnea in 2011 at Harvard. O’Neal said, “Before being diagnosed, I didn’t realize I had sleep apnea or how serious its effects could be.”

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Throughout his NBA career, O’Neal schooled his opponents on the court. It turns out his educational chops don’t end there, as he obtained a doctorate degree from Barry University. His degree is in organization learning and leadership, with a specialization in human resource development.

O’Neal told the Miami Herald, “Everyone thinks this is honorary. But this is not honorary. I put in four and a half hard years staying up late at night, studying, reading, rewriting papers Dr. Kopp marked up. The work was very rigorous, but very enjoyable. And I’m not done. I think I’m going to try law school next. I’m thinking about it. We’ll see.”

O’Neal told Men’s Health, “Every day before games, I would have two club sandwiches, fries, and a pineapple soda.”

Since his playing days ended, O’Neal attacks his diet a little bit differently. Men’s Health’s Greg Presto wrote, “He’s traded in the clubs for salmon with lemon, lean chicken and meatloaf for lunch. His go-to breakfast is four scrambled eggs with two pieces of turkey sausage.”

Before Biggie passed away in 1997, O’Neal had the chance to collaborate with the music icon on an album the basketball star released in 1996. It was called You Can’t Stop The Reign, and Biggie seemed to be impressed with how quickly O’Neal wrote his verse down. O’Neal told Genius’ Between The Lines, “Nah, this isn’t good enough for Big… I know I’m not going to be anywhere close to Big, but I gotta be under him.”

Their classic collaboration was released to streaming platforms in 2024, so rap enthusiasts can get their hands on the unique jam.

The basketball legend told the Green Light podcast, “What a lot of people don’t know, the reason why I survived hack-a-Shaqers, football is my first love… I’m a football player first.” O’Neal revealed that his first childhood sports idol was Ed “Too Tall” Jones from the Dallas Cowboys.

O’Neal has said that he decided to focus on basketball because he noticed how average players in the NBA would make large sums of money on guaranteed contracts. The best part was, he didn’t have to get hit, even though he was fouled hard throughout his NBA career.

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NBA fans were worried that the Inside the NBA crew featuring O’Neal, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson would be broken up when the league’s new TV deal kicks in. However, Turner licensed the show to ESPN, so supporters will continue to tune into the entertaining program the quartet provides. Turner’s payday to O’Neal ensures this.

As Spotrac notes, O’Neal’s annual salary from 1996 through 2002 was around $17 million, so his new contract with Turner approximates what he made during the prime of his NBA career.

O’Neal was an animal in the low post, and has some jungle cats of his own. According to Sporting News, O’Neal bought two white tiger cubs back in 2005, who are now all grown up. The pair lives on a farm in Florida.

O’Neal hasn’t been shy about showing his affection for tigers to the world, as he has posted himself holding tigers on social media. He also owns a “liger,” according to Sporting News, which is a mixed breed between a lion and a tiger.

O’Neal and Barkley have been teammates on Inside the NBA for a while now, and have formed a dynamic tandem. However, things weren’t always that friendly between the two stars. O’Neal and Barkley got into a massive brawl in 1999 while O’Neal was with the Los Angeles Lakers and Barkley was with the Houston Rockets.

O’Neal wanted to keep the animosity towards Barkley going after the fight, but O’Neal’s mom told him to squash it. He told Basketball Network, “Momma dropped the final order. I’m not gonna go against my momma ever.”

The NBA legend has always been complementary of law enforcement, and Essentially Sports’ Pritha Debroy wrote that he would have become a police officer if he didn’t pursue basketball. He’s been a reserve police officer in Florida and California.

O’Neal told Basketball Network about a time where he diffused a potential shootout. While he was on duty, they stopped a man in Los Angeles who had grenades, launchers and uzis in his trunk. The man said he was a Laker fan, and that calmed him down. “But if I wasn’t there, it probably would have been a long night.”

NBA players don’t often admit who they liked playing with the least, but O’Neal did not hesitate to name Dennis Rodman for this distinction. O’Neal criticized Rodman for a lack of professionalism during their time together with the Los Angeles Lakers.

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O’Neal said on his podcast, “He was a great player, but he made it hard. Like when you try to corral the guys together and the people above you are letting this one guy do whatever he wants. So we had to be there an hour before the game. He’d come in fifteen minutes before the game eating chicken and rice. While the coaches are talking, he would jump in the shower. Cold shower. Come and give you 15-20 rebounds.”