[TV static drones]
[bright tone]
[alert drones]
- The world knows
I'm a bullshitter.
Like, sometimes
when you're telling a story,
you want to add
a little barbecue sauce.
I don't want to go,
"I walked to the store
and bought a loaf of bread."
Like, right, that's
the gist of the story,
but as I was walking
to a store,
a dog started chasing me
and I ran up the tree.
The branch broke.
I landed on my back.
And then when I land,
I thought the dog
was gonna bite me,
but he licked me in the face.
And then the lady came out,
and, oh, my God,
she was beautiful.
And she was single.
And now we're married.
Like, you just have to
[alert beeps]
I'm not lyin'; I just like
to add a little, you know.
[Cyndi Lauper's
"Time After Time" playing]
DJ Diesel,
white guy classics.
White guy classics.
White guy classics.
♪
[a-ha's "Take On Me" playing]
♪
[laughter]
That's how we did it
in high school.
♪
Yeah. [chuckles]
Yeah, that's how we did it.
[laughs]
- Meet Shaquille O'Neal.
Averaging 47 points a game,
Shaquille's a man among boys
on the court.
- That's a seven-footer!
Are you serious?
- LSU's Shaquille O'Neal
is already being heralded
as one of the top centers
in the universe.
- Square off,
and they're brawling.
- The Orlando Magic
selects Shaquille O'Neal
from Louisiana State
University.
- He brought
the whole thing down.
- I would like to present
to Shaquille O'Neal
the Most Valuable
Rookie of the Year award.
- And the young Orlando Magic
have come here to win
in Chicago.
- They have swept
the Orlando Magic!
- Shaq signed the largest deal
in sports history
with the Los Angeles Lakers.
- NBA MVP Shaquille O'Neal.
- Take me on ♪
Take on me ♪
- I'ma bring the championship
to Miami, I promise.
- Congratulations, Miami.
- In a day or two ♪
- Give it up
to the greatest big man
to ever play the game.
- Can you dig it?
- My mother comes
from a very religious family.
So after I was born,
we were outcasted.
- Well, it was 1970s.
And a lot
of the young women were looking
for unique names
for their children.
And I wanted him to have a name
that really spoke
to who he was.
So we looked into a book
of Islamic names.
Shaquille,
meaning "little one,"
Rashaun, meaning "warrior,"
and you know our last name,
O'Neal.
Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal.
- She brought me home
to my grandmother's house.
And it was like she saw
a ray of light.
'Cause I'ma tell you
about the elderly women
in my family.
All the stuff
that's happened to me now?
They knew.
They knew.
They would always say
- "Something special
about that one."
It was something,
something special.
We lived in a time
where we had civil unrest.
A lot of things
were a Black and white issue.
And there was just stress
outside of the home.
So laughter was one of the ways
that we came together
and just really enjoyed
being together.
And it made
for a big, happy family.
We call him Daddy Shaq
sometimes
'cause he was the oldest,
and so he was the bossy one.
And then we had Lateefah.
She's the sensitive one.
And then we had Ayesha.
She was the one
that was full of joy
and full of laughter.
And we got Jamal.
He took on a piece of
everybody else's personality.
And then Phil being
that strong disciplinarian.
And then here I am,
I'm the peacemaker.
So we had a good time
with our family.
- Tell me about your service
in the military.
- Well, I'm stationed
at Fort Sam Houston, Texas,
in San Antonio.
I'm a supply sergeant there.
- Mm-hmm.
- I'm assigned to
the Academy of Health Science.
- Mm-hmm.
Looks like you've seen
quite a bit of service too.
- Oh, I've been there
for 18 1/2 years.
- I remember playing ball
with his dad.
We used to play every Sunday.
Phil was just a absolute beast.
He grew up inner city,
where he played sports.
And then he was a military man.
- We got married
when Shaquille
was close to two years old.
So Phil was his father.
And he's the only man
and father
that Shaquille has ever known.
- We were all product
of inner-city strength.
Phil made sure that his kids
wouldn't follow
that same pattern.
- Oh, it was a lot of love,
a lot of discipline.
Like, my dad didn't
he did some talking,
but if you didn't listen,
if you disobeyed,
he'd put the crackdown on us.
- He always told me,
"I'ma make you better
than I was."
- And my dad
would always tell us,
"Y'all might hate my ways"
- "But you love my results."
You ever heard that one?
- The way I got a spankin',
if you're looking
on the outside,
you would bring up
the A word.
But he would never come in
and just knock me out
for no reason.
I used to do
a lot of kid stuff.
Then a strange thing happens.
As I'm starting
to figure things out
and be more responsible
around the house,
I realized
that my last name is different
from my brother's and sisters'.
So I said, "Mommy,
why is my name Shaquille O'Neal
and Jamal, Lateefah,
and Ayesha's last name
is Harrison?
- We were just told
that Shaquille was born
before my mom and dad
got married.
He kept the name O'Neal
because it just sounded good.
- And she said,
"Baby, I always wanted
"to tell you this.
Sarge is not
your real father."
What?
- I wanted to ensure
that he knew the truth.
And I introduced him
when he got to an age
where he would understand,
because I didn't want him
to hear that from anybody else.
- She said, "Would you like
to meet your real father?"
- "Yeah, I can get away
from this m*therf*cker now
and go live with my other dad."
And we get in the car,
and guess where we end up at.
The same projects
I was born and raised in.
So we go in this guy's house,
Joe Toney,
and we're sittin' talkin'.
But I'm lookin' around like
"I'm not comin' back
to this sh*t."
- He didn't care.
[chuckles]
He's like, "Okay."
- This guy
at two years old
when you married him,
and I look at him
and all the spankings I took,
that this is my daddy.
[dramatic music]
The power of love is great.
We had so much love growing up.
I thought I was rich.
- Money was tight,
but the love
was overpowering the money,
so we just all had this bond.
- Our father had this motto,
"If one jump in,
we all jump in."
One time, this girl,
she hit me in the mouth.
And I ran and told my sister.
- So I just immediately went
and hit her.
Her sister came from the side
and blindsided me,
so I fell on my back.
So Shaquille grabbed the sister
by the collar,
and he took Ayesha,
our younger sister's hand
and started hitting her
upside the face.
And then the brother
came down there
And this is when Shaquille
he was, like,
all into wrestling,
so he picked the brother up
and he did, like,
a backbreaker on him,
and the guy's all on the floor.
And then the mom came,
and she's yelling.
She's like, "Hey!"
And then Shaquille's like,
"Oh, my God, we gotta go.
Let's run."
So he grabbed us all up,
and we took off running.
And we get home, then
[knocking]
Knock on the door,
and she was like,
"Yeah, your kids
beat up my kids.
"Your son did some kind of move
on my son,
and now his back
is all hurting."
And my dad was like,
"Ooh, ooh, I'ma get y'all.
Wait when they leave."
My dad closed the door,
and he was like,
"That's right.
That's what I'm talking about."
[laughs] "One of y'all
get in a fight,
y'all all get in a fight."
- We all looked out
for each other.
That's just the way it was.
- Shaquille felt like
he had to take care of us.
"Listen, y'all are number one."
Never, "Okay, you do you."
No, it's not like that.
- Around Christmastime,
my dad sits me down.
Said, "Look, dog,
you know,
"when you get married
you'll understand this.
"You gotta take care
of the ladies.
"You always have to protect,
"provide, and love
for the ladies.
"You know, I know you want
the big boom box and all that,
"but I can't get that
right now.
Next payday,
I'll get it for you."
"No, that's cool."
'Cause I'm all about family.
And if I come in the house
and see everybody smiling,
I don't need nothing.
I'm asleep in the room
not asleep, just fake sleep.
So I hear everybody
opening up their stuff,
and I'm just laying there.
And something hit me
in the stomach.
"Oh!"
And I look,
and it was an autographed
fake autographbut it was
an autographed Dr. J ball.
And then I look on the ground,
and there was
a little boom box.
It wasn't no big one.
And he's like,
"I appreciate you, big man."
"No, I appreciate you, sir."
That was
the best Christmas ever.
- I think what carries him
is the love and the support
that he always got from Phil.
He didn't understand it
at first.
He said, "Well, why did I get
so many whuppings?"
[laughs]
I said, "Because you needed
to be disciplined.
"You needed to be taught,
and sometimes that was
the only way
to get your attention."
But he had to realize
that it was for his good.
You don't always
understand why.
But you appreciate it
when you get older,
because had it gone
a different way,
he may not be the man
that he is today.
- I had three escapes.
After I'd get whupped
and get done cryin',
it was like God gave me
a certain remote.
- You know those old TVs
where you had to turn?
- [mimics TV dial clicking]
[TV dial clicks]
- When it would go out,
you'd have to hit it
on the side?
- [vocalizes]
'Cause "Good Times"
is coming on.
- Hello.
- After "Good Times,"
here comes "Sanford and Son."
- Son, you worthless.
- After "Sanford and Son,"
here comes "The Jeffersons."
[laughter]
Every night.
But then the movie
that changed my life,
called
"Fish That Saved Pittsburgh."
And the movie's
about a young guy.
He had to find Dr. J to get
him to play in this game.
And then my father knew
the love I had for the movie.
He said, "Son, if you pass
the next grade,
I'll take you to see Dr. J."
"Him? He's real?"
So I'm busting my a*s
in school, boom, boom, boom.
Not an A, B guy. Cs.
And then one day,
I'm sittin' in the room,
and it was just me and him.
He said, "Let's take a ride."
[engine turning over]
We get in our little
Toyota Corolla.
- Toyota ♪
- We pull up
to Madison Square Garden,
and we go way to the top.
And then finally
when I look down,
Dr. J goes baseline.
Dunks. Crowd go cra
[mimics crowd cheering]
It was like some spirits
just entered my body.
[vocalizes]
And I just immediately turned
to my father.
I said, "Sir, I know what
I want to be when I grow up."
In his words,
"If you listen to me,
I'll make you one of the best
basketball players ever."
[light music]
- The pituitary gland
begins to secrete
the growth hormone.
The boy grows rapidly
in height, weight,
and strength.
But the rapid growth
of his muscles
gives him a great need
for activity.
And this may express itself
in many ways.
- My grandfather was 7 foot
before we even realized
that that was something
kind of special.
And I didn't realize
that I would ever have children
that would grow up to be
tall and handsome like that.
Shaquille always grew
a height above
or maybe a few pounds
above his peers.
- I seen my mother knock
a bus driver out one time.
Five and under can ride free.
And I'm three, four,
but I'm a big kid.
And the guy's tellin' my mama,
"If he's five, he must be
Ret*rded or something."
And my mom hit him
with that bing, bing.
- Well, I[chuckles]
I had to,
because they'd make it seem
like it was something
really wrong with that.
But we learned so much.
And we let him know
that it's okay.
He didn't want
to be different.
He wanted to be
the same height,
the same size
as all of his peers.
But he wasn't, to he had to
accept that fact, the reality.
That was his life.
- You either was gonna get
the clown Shaquille,
or you was gonna get
the bully Shaquille.
There wasn't no middle.
See, being big,
a lot of people thought
I was a holdback.
But actually,
I skipped first grade,
sowhich means I was ahead.
"You know, you're 11?
"How are you 11
and you're 6'4"?
You must be stupid
or something."
So now I'm like,
"What'd you just say?
3:00. Outside in the back."
But because of "Good Times,"
"Sanford and Son,"
"Jeffersons,"
I love to laugh.
I didn't want to fight
every day.
Let's laugh.
Let's joke around.
Let's make spit wads
and throw them at the teacher,
and let's have fun.
It was a way
of being accepted.
Didn't want to be looked at
as the tall kid
who, by the way,
was terrible at sports.
- Who taught him
how to play basketball?
You know, it's hard to say.
Phil taught him
a lot about basketball,
'cause he began coaching him
when he was six years old.
Now, I played basketball too,
so I taught him a trick or two.
[eerie music]
- So when I first started
to play,
my father was like, "Aah."
He's not like, "Here you go."
Like, heand I'd go like this.
So I can remember one day,
he said,
"Put your hands on your side
and don't move."
And he threw it. I moved.
"What the f
didn't I say don't move?"
So now I've gotta put
my hands on my side,
and chest pass
right to the face.
Boom.
"Look, see? How was that?"
The point he was trying
to make:
stop being scared of the ball.
'Cause even if you get hit,
this is how it's gonna feel.
I ain't gonna k*ll you.
So after that,
my hands became impeccable.
Now it's time to put me
on the team and coach me.
I had two moves.
Catch it, look left,
look right,
and dribble, off the glass.
And I can remember a story,
we were in Bayonne, New Jersey.
I'm not really that good.
I'm just bigger
than everybody.
And I can remember this guy
storm on the basketball court,
grab his son.
This is what he says:
"No way that m*therf*cker's
ten years old.
"If that m*therf*cker
is ten years old,
"he's gonna be
one of the best NBA players
to ever f*ck' play the game."
And he walks off.
He takes his kid.
They forfeit the game.
And my dad's like,
"See? See?
If you listen to me, I'ma
make you the best player ever."
I went from the projects
of Newark, New Jersey,
to down South,
Hinesville, Georgia.
First time I seen a whole bunch
of white people
at the same time.
First day of school,
"What's up, my n*gga?"
"Is that white boy
supposed to call me that?
3:00.
I'm f*cking you up at 3:00."
I gave him the beatdown
of his life.
He starts having a seizure.
There was a guy who saw that,
came, put the pen in his mouth,
and saved this kid's life.
Now, if he wasn't there,
none of this would be.
[sirens wailing]
The cops come,
talk to my dad,
and he spanks me again.
He gives me the, "You know
what could have happened
if you would have k*lled
this kid?"
So now the bully side is dead.
Dead.
No way.
'Cause it only takes
one mistake.
You can have a million dreams.
Only takes one mistake.
[cell doors clang]
At that point in my life,
I was dreamin'
about being a rapper.
I was dreamin'
about being an actor.
I was dreamin'
about being rich.
I was dreamin' about
being a basketball player.
I was just dreamin'.
And then if all that
didn't work, guess what.
I'm joining the army.
'Cause you know why?
This is a pretty good life.
Always had plans.
I'm never going
to the bottom, ever.
'Cause I've seen the bottom.
We just came from the bottom.
This guy Philip Harrison
brought us somewhere.
It ain't at the top.
I ain't going back
to the bottom.
Now when I leave Georgia,
we going to a place
called Germany.
[projector clicking]
I'm like, "What's that?"
"Get your a*s on the plane!"
Cargo plane.
[plane engine humming]
- There were rows and rows
of military families
going to these different
stations in Germany,
so we didn't feel so alone.
And I can't say
that we weren't ready,
but we were
a little bit fearful
because we had never been
on an airplane before.
And that is a long, long ride.
- I'm like,
"What the f*ck is this?"
Woods.
Wildflecken is on a mountain.
And the base is even smaller.
And now I'm like, "Oh, my God."
And I hate using this word
"depression."
It was bad.
But it was a blessing for me,
'cause now there's
only one thing to do:
play sports.
I go to the base every day.
And there's no kids up there.
I'm only there because
my father runs the gym
and I'm not sitting
at the house all day.
"Get your a*s out there
and play."
So I play. I'm terrible.
People criticizin' me.
I know it.
My father comes in the house
one day.
He hits me
in the back of the head
with a paper.
[mimics whip cracking]
Says, "College coach
comes to Wildflecken
to speak to the troops."
"Get your a*s up.
See if you can get
a scholarship."
But before I left, I say,
"I'm talkin'
to a college coach.
Let me sound smart."
So I
[pages fluttering]
Extremities.
Extremextremextremities.
- All right, now, no punches
were thrown there.
- Lookit, you see Dale Brown
push Groves?
And then Gro
- It was really by accident
when I first met him
in a place called Wildflecken
up in the mountains.
I was at the gym where I was
putting on the clinic.
And I'm packing my bag, and I
get a tap on the shoulder.
And I turn around, and
here's this giant of a guy,
kind of shy.
"Coach Brown," he said,
I'll be trying out
for the team."
And he said,
"I can't dunk a ball.
"And I run
up and down the court
about three, four times"
both:
"And my lower extremities"
- "Tire."
I say, "Lower extremities?"
I didn't say that to him,
but I'm thinking,
"He's a pretty smart guy."
He said, "Can you show me
some exercises to improve it?"
"What I'll do, Soldier,
when I get back to Baton Rouge
is, I'll send you
the weight training program."
I said, "How long
you been in service?"
And he goes like this,
and he goes, "Coach Brown,
I'm only 13 years old."
I said, "What?"
Being the Rhodes Scholar I am,
my next question was,
"Where's your dad?"
He said, "He's in the sauna."
I said, "I'd like to meet him."
So we're heading to the sauna.
I was just putting my hand
on the door
and the door burst open.
And out, coming,
sweating profusely,
military-green towel
around him
"That's my dad.
That's my dad."
This is important.
I handed him my business card,
and I said,
"Sergeant Harrison,"
I said, "my name's Dale Brown.
I'm the head basketball coach
at LSU."
And almost with disdain,
"Excuse me, Coach Brown."
He says, "This is all fine
and good, basketball."
But he said,
"I think it's time,"
he said,
"our children get degrees
"so they can be
generals in the army
"instead of a sergeant.
"They can be presidents
of corporations
"instead of janitors.
"They can be head coaches
instead of assistant coaches
"running all over the country
looking for players.
"If you're interested
in my son's intellect,
we might talk someday."
- Sends me the program.
So I try everything.
And I try out
for the team again,
but I don't make it.
So I write him
a tearful letter.
"Coach, I'm sorry.
It didn't work."
- "I did everything"
- "Thank you for the help."
- "You told me to do"
- "I appreciate it."
- "And my high school coach
"cut me off the team.
"He told me I'm too slow,
I'm too clumsy,
"I have too big of feet.
"I will never be
a basketball player.
Why don't I be a goalie
in soccer?"
So I sat behind my desk
and I thought,
"Now, what kind
of a profound statement
am I gonna make
to a 13-year-old child?"
"Dear Shaquille,
"I'm so sorry
what happened to you.
"But I found out in my life
when I heard people whispering,
"'He has no father.
His mother's on welfare.
"'He lives
in a one-room apartment.
He won't be successful,'
"if you always sincerely
try to do your very best
"and only you will know that
and you never give up
"under any conditions,
sooner or later, God'll take
care of everything else."
- That's why I wanted to go
to LSU.
Because before I became
this character known as "Shaq,"
nobody wanted me.
But Dale Brown looked at me.
He chose me.
He put his hand
around my shoulders
and saw something in me
that I didn't see.
♪
- So I was in my office
one afternoon,
and a tall, skinny kid
walked in.
And I knew who it was,
but I had never really
introduced myself to him.
And he said,
"Coach, I want to try out
for the basketball team."
He said,
"If you promise not to cut me,
I promise you won't regret it."
And I said, "Okay, we'll see
how things go."
Shaquille kind of
cut his teeth
playing down on the base gym
against 19-, 20-, 21-year-old
soldiers.
His dad, Sergeant Harrison,
would take him down,
drop him off.
Man, I tell you what,
I know at that time
I didn't understand that guy.
He was so hard on Shaquille.
He was so
I think there were times
Shaquille was afraid of him
and rightfully so.
I'm not a parent.
I don't have kids.
It's not my place to say
whether it was too hard
or too soft or
I think the results
speak for themselves.
Let's just say this,
Sarge had one speed: 11.
When I first started with him,
Shaquille's brain and his body
is still catching up
with his size.
And there were times
when he would run
and his bones were going faster
than his muscles.
And heit was very painful
for him to run.
And sometimes we'd run
conditioning drills.
He would cry.
[indistinct yelling]
- I had something
called Osgood-Schlatter's.
I was growing too fast,
and my body and my knees
didn't keep up.
- And I'd pull him aside
and say,
"Hey, why don't you sit
this one out?"
He said, "No, Coach.
I'll do what everybody else
does."
As a sophomore
playing on a team
laden with seniors
and a couple of juniors,
he kind of got picked on
a little bit.
We were in a game
up in Osterholz,
which is way up
in northern Germany.
He was open inside,
and they were taking shots
rather than kicking it down
inside to him.
So I told them at halftime,
"If you guys don't start
getting the ball inside to him,
I'ma pull both you guys out
and you're gonna sit."
I think that one of the things
that he appreciates
is that I stood up for him.
Playing high school ball
in Europe,
our average road trip was
between four and five hours.
When I think
about the relationship
that I've had with Shaquille,
it was all forged
on a bus to nowhere
and talking
about what young kids
hoped for and dreamed for,
and, "How come our moms
and dads are so strict on us?"
I was fortunate to be able,
maybe, to give him
some perspective, you know,
during that time in his life
when he was kind of forming
his own opinion
about what he thought
about the world.
So at the end of the year,
we made it to
the small schools tournament.
Unfortunately,
Shaquille's father,
he was destined to be
transferred back to the States.
So we got a call
that he was gonna be leaving.
We looked at the calendar.
We're not gonna have him
for the Elite Eight.
He played
in those last two games.
He played lights out.
We're done,
we're in the locker room,
I'm talking to the team,
and Shaquille was leaning
over the counter to the sinks.
And I noticed the sinks
were wet, and I thought,
"Why is he washing his hands?
"WeI mean, I guess
we just played a game.
I don't know."
And I quickly realized
that it wasn't water.
He was crying.
And I knew in that moment
how difficult
it was gonna be
[clears throat]
I knew how difficult
it was gonna be
for him to leave us.
And he turned to me,
and he hugged me.
And he said,
"Coach, I love you."
And I said,
"I love you too, big guy."
That's the last time I saw him
until he was playing
for Coach Brown.
- After my sophomore year,
we leave.
Back in Jersey
and seeing family
"What's happening?" Boom, boom.
Lovin' and huggin'.
We got the moving thing
on top of the car.
I'm like,
"Yo, man, where we going?"
"Shut your a*s up
and get in the car."
And we get in the car.
And we drivin' and we drivin'.
Now I'm starting to see stuff
I ain't seen in a whilecows.
I'm like
And then I see,
"Welcome to Texas."
I'm like, "Texas?"
Cowboys?
We moved
to San Antonio, Texas.
We arrive at the school.
And I'm talking
to the principal,
and I see this little kid
walking down the hall,
and he comes in,
and, "This is Joe Cavallaro.
He's gonna show you around."
- I see Sergeant Harrison
and Shaquille standing there.
Obviously a basketball player,
so about time we get
some good talent
for the basketball team.
- He showed me around.
And, "What about
the basketball team?"
"We ain't really that good."
"But I want to meet
some of the players."
- Our graduating class in 1989
was 79 people.
You couldn't go to the school
unless your parents
were in the military
or if you parents worked
at that school.
- So because there's
not a lot of kids,
I make the team.
I'm a starter.
- The high school years
was something very special
because we were just coming
from Germany.
And I remember
the coach said that,
"I don't know if he can walk
and chew gum at the same time."
We told him, "You may have
to just show them.
Don't even tell them
how good you know you are."
- Our team became
immediately dominant
his junior year.
- He began to get exposure
all around the state of Texas.
- My first article was
"Cole's O'Neal
'best in the U.S.'"
So 35-1, having a good year.
Semifinals going
into the finals.
Down by one.
Shaquille O'Neal gets fouled,
goes to the line, misses.
[indistinct chatter]
- We got beat in the playoffs
because he missed free throws.
That stuck with him
and gave him the motivation
to do what he did
his senior year,
which was absolutely amazing.
[indistinct chatter]
[laughs]
[rhythmic clapping]
cheerleaders:
All right, Shaquille!
- Senior in high school.
Magic Johnson was my guy.
So I'm smooth with the ball.
Look-away pass.
I cross this dude up
at half-court, ooh, ooh.
I go to give a nasty
finger roll, and I miss.
All of a sudden,
I see this big Black dude
walking on the court
in his military fatigues.
It's my father, the Sarge.
He said, "Call a time-out."
"Yes, sir."
He said, "What you doing?"
"Man, I'm just workin'
on my Magic"
[mimics whip cracking]
[TV dial clicks]
"f*ck that."
[gears rumbling]
"Be Shaquille O'Neal."
"Dunk it every f*cking time."
[thunder booming]
And the boys knew
what happened.
They knew the Sarge
done touched me up.
- And I looked at him,
and he was like,
"Give me the g*dd*mn ball."
That's all you had to say, bro.
- When I dunked,
I was so f*ck' mad,
I wanted to break the rim off
for him.
[thud]
"Oh, this is what you want
me to do?"
[grunting]
"This good enough
for you, Sarge?"
[grunting]
Everybody's scared. Terrified.
[people screaming]
I'ma k*ll your a*s out here.
- Monster.
- [growls]
- That's the monster sh*t,
bro.
- He's 7 feet tall,
one of the top five
high school players
in the country,
and he just turned 17.
Shaquille O'Neal,
averaging 47 points a game
in the playoffs.
- He started going up
against these kids
and just doing
what he wanted to.
We beat a team 121-35.
By the end of the game,
the rims were like this
[crowd cheering,
ball thudding]
[dramatic music]
♪
[crowd yelling]
Sergeant Harrison saw it
before anybody.
- [mimics whip cracking]
So I'm in the house one day,
and my father comes in
and hits me with a paper again.
"Look at this m*therf*cker."
- The contact
with the left hand.
- There was a guy
named Jon Koncak.
- Takes it to the basket
and rattles it home.
- He signed $15 million
for three.
"Get your sh*t.
We gonna watch him play."
- Toyota ♪
- And I'm watching
this guy play, and I'm like,
"Yo, if he gettin' $15 million
I can get $8 million."
So now I got to stay focused.
Now I'm close.
This article right here
that says
"Cole's O'Neal
'best in the U.S.'"
says that I'm close.
[upbeat music]
- In today's classic,
Shaquille O'Neal,
a 6'11" giant
from San Antonio,
will lead the West
against the East.
It's the 12th annual
McDonald's All-American Game.
♪
- So growing up
in my high school,
I loved d*ck Vitale.
- This is excitement.
This is absolutely bedlam.
- Loved him.
And I get
to the McDonald's game,
and I was like,
"Hello, Mr. Vitale."
And Mr. Vitale says,
"And you are?"
I said,
"My name's Shaquille O'Neal."
"Oh, you the big guy from Texas
that played
against those small kids."
Oh, my God.
Now I'm f*ck' pissed.
My mom always used to say,
and it didn't make sense
till that day,
"Baby, make 'em remember
your name."
I already know what I'ma do.
First time I touch the ball,
I'm taking it coast-to-coast.
So I blocked
Conrad McRae's shot.
- There's Shaquille
with another rejection.
- Dribble.
Take off
on the free throw line.
Dunk it. Boom.
And then d*ck Vitale screamed,
"Oh, my God."
And I'm looking like, "Oh."
- I can't believe it!
I can't believe it!
That's a seven-footer!
Are you serious?
- I'll tell you one thing,
this guy can play.
Shaquille O'Neal
will be a star at LSU.
[percussive music]
♪
- Now when I go
to Baton Rouge,
it's back to the bottom,
brother.
They got Chris Jackson
and Stanley Roberts.
We don't know who you are.
- I remember him asking
who would start
and all that business.
And I told him right up front,
but I said,
"Shaquille, I have never told
a player he would start.
That has to occur
on the court.
- You know,
I go from averaging
37 points to 6 points.
So my whole freshman year,
I'm playing the game
and I'm turning it over;
I'm fumbling.
It's back to,
"You can't play."
But, you know,
my father always told me,
"If you stay consistent
at something,
whatever you're looking
to accomplish, it will happen."
- I don't think I've ever seen
a player consistently
get better and better
and better and better.
There was no question,
not one doubt in my mind,
he was gonna be a superstar.
- Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf,
aka Chris Jackson,
doesn't know this,
but I used to follow him.
I knew he used to work out
at night,
but nobody was allowed
to go in there.
So I broke in there.
And he was talking to himself.
"sh**t."
And it seemed
like he wasn't missing.
So I'm like, "Okay,
if this what he's doing
to be great, I'ma do it."
"Oh, Patrick, you want to try
to guard Shaquille?"
"Oh, Shaquille"
like, and I would
I was trying to imagine that.
So guess what happened
my sophomore year.
Mr. Stanley Roberts
flunks out.
Here's my shot.
And I come in
first time I got the ball
and dunked it.
[crowd cheering]
[whistle blows]
I'm like
- Flips it to O'Neal
and slams it in.
- Shaquille,
and then I'm like
- I'd say Shaq took it
to the rack.
- Like, man, this is
what I've been dreaming about
all my life.
- 7'1", nearly 300 pounds,
yet only weeks
beyond his 19th birthday,
LSU sophomore Shaquille O'Neal
is already being heralded
as one of the top centers
in the universe.
- My sophomore year, I led
the conference in everything.
And I always knew
from a youngster,
take advantage
of opportunities.
- Great steal.
O'Neal, slam dunk!
Oh, my goodness.
- Sophomore year,
I wanted to go pro.
My father said,
"We've been broke
"17 years of your life.
We can be broke for 18."
- When he first went
to school, everything was
go to school, get education.
Now that Shaquille's
a fairly good
basketball player,
everybody's now saying,
"Dump school
and go to the NBA."
- He probably knew, too,
that he was that good.
And I remember sitting him down
and said, "It's gonna be
different from now on."
- Why? I don't understand that.
'Cause of the money?
Money isn't everything.
'Cause of the publicity?
That's not everything.
- I know it's gonna be
an argument,
'cause he's like, "Nope.
"You ain't doing sh*t
until you get a degree.
"I don't give a sh*t
what you say.
"I don't care how much money
they're offering you.
You ain't doing nothing."
- If he goes the NBA and can't
do what they expect him to do,
where's he gonna be at?
- I goI said,
"I want to go pro."
He's going, "m*therf*cker,
"da, da, da, da, da, da, da,
da, da, da, da.
Get out of my face!"
So my mom said,
"Come with me, baby."
And my mom said,
"Balance this checkbook."
I didn't know
what the f*ck I was doing.
Mom said,
"You not ready, baby."
- He decided that he wanted
to go back to school
for at least another year
or so.
- "This conversation over."
"Yes, ma'am."
- At that time,
I made it my point
just to help him.
If he needed me, I was there.
He had that dream, "I'm gonna
be professional one day."
We would not pay bills
and get in the car on a Friday
and drive to Louisiana
just to spend
the weekend with him
so that we could be with him
and keep him encouraged.
"You a big man.
You stand tall.
You don't let
anybody move you."
- And it's a 10-point lead.
[indistinct chatter]
One-handed catch by Shaquille.
Got his own rebound.
[whistle blows]
And that'll count.
And a foul as O'Neal will step
to the free throw line.
- People had to compete
against me
because of my size.
They felt they had to get
super physical.
Well, guess what.
I got a*s-whuppings every day.
You're not hurting me.
It's just making me
more angry.
[whistle blows]
- And a foul.
- Oh! How good is that?
- Also showed me
a sign of respect.
"I can't stop you, man.
I'm sorry. I fouled him."
- You think
this big guy is good?
Watch this. He's gonna
get hammered right here,
get fouled, still get it up
with his strength, get it in,
and count it.
- I had called the SCC
numerous times and told them
that the referees have to stop
these flagrant fouls.
- Tapped in
- "They can't stop him,
"so they foul him,
"knowing he's
a poor free throw sh**ter.
"Shaquille's gonna be
seriously hurt.
It could cost him his career."
- They're gonna get shots.
[whistle blows]
O'Neal is fouled by Groves
as he made
a strong move to the basket.
Strong being a bit
of an understatement
in that case.
- When we go
to the SCC tournament,
third time this happened
by this player
from Tennessee.
- Won four in a row,
lost a heartbreaking
[whistle blows]
Uh-oh, look out.
Groves and O'Neal square off.
And Dale Brown
is pushing Groves.
- And I see Shaquille's knee
going out
and a fight breaking out,
so I go out on the court
and get in a confrontation
with the guy doing it.
- That's why I love that man.
He was right there next to me.
The reason why I swung
on Carlus Groves,
because in my mind,
this dude's trying
to mess my money up.
And I wanted to send a message
to anybody
that try to mess my money up,
this is what's gonna happen
to you.
- Sadly as I hate to say this,
I'm recommending
to Shaquille's parents
that he turns NBA.
I do not want to see
this young man
blatantly fouled and hurt
and then, because
of my selfishness to win,
he doesn't play pro ball.
If he's going to get hurt
and people are going
to intentionally foul him
for the 18th time,
he needs to go get money
to get hurt.
- He's no ordinary
19-year-old.
Standing 7'1"
and weighing in at 285 pounds,
his amazing speed
and spectacular skills
have made him, without doubt,
the most sought-after
collegiate basketball player
in the nation.
- Junior year. Dominated.
d*ck Vitale's still screaming
my name.
- Shaquille O'Neal!
- Go home, same argument.
But it's the first time
I stand up to him.
"Man, f*ck that.
They f*ck' me up in school.
I'm going."
And it was the first time
he looked back at me
and was like
he realized
that he created a man.
And then Mom says, "You know
what I'm gonna ask you to do.
Pull it out."
My sh*t was neat.
Debits, credits, boom, boom,
bada-bam, bada-bing.
And she said,
"Okay, you ready."
- When you have a dream
come alive,
it's just a blessing
instead of hard work.
He told me I was never
gonna have to worry.
"You won't have to worry
about anything.
You gonna be able to get
anything that you want."
And I said,
"Okay, okay. That's fine."
It's good.
It's good for all of us.
- Good afternoon.
The mic's on?
[tapping]
Good afternoon.
Thank you all for coming.
About to make my statement.
I, Shaquille O'Neal,
after careful deliberation,
have decided to forgo
my senior year eligibility
at LSU.
I'm not making this decision
out of anger or frustration.
I feel that in my heart,
it's time for a change
and it's time
for me to move on.
I've truly enjoyed every aspect
of my college years
as a basketball player
and as a student.
I think the experience
was very much needed.
But now I am ready to take
what I've learned
on with me to the NBA.
And I'd like to thank
you people for coming
and thank you for the awards,
and, you know, thank you
for everything.
And thank you for listening.
Peace.
Any questions?
- Always been our dream
to see him play in the NBA.
My dream, you know.
Because I wanted to play,
that's what he playin' in.
Now my son is gonna play in it.
It makes me feel
a whole lot better
knowing that my son is able
to go farther than what I went,
you know?
That's the main
that's what it's all about,
you know what I mean,
your children going farther
that what you went
and doing better
than what
you're gonna be doing.
- All right.
See you later, guy.
[indistinct chatter]
- I was elated for the family,
because, you know, a superstar,
and they drive up
in this old van.
So I knew it was
a pivotal thing financially.
[people cheering]
He was gonna help take care
of the family.
- Well, Shaquille,
this is it, bro.
- We're going to work.
- Time to go to work, huh?
- Good evening,
ladies and gentlemen,
and welcome
to the 1992 NBA Draft.
[cheers and applause]
- Draft night was special.
My grandmother was there.
My mother was there.
Brother, sisters,
aunts, uncles, friends.
And then when they called
my name, it was like
- With the first pick
in the 1992 NBA Draft,
the Orlando Magic
selects Shaquille O'Neal
from Louisiana State
University.
[cheers and applause]
- Who, me?
I wanted to cry inside,
but being raised by the Sarge,
you're not allowed
to be emotional.
You're not allowed to be soft.
[applause]
But in my mind,
"I'm here. I'm here.
"All the a*s-whuppings,
"all the doubters,
I'm here."
- Well,
along with Jack Givens,
this is Chip Caray
welcoming you tonight,
the debut of perhaps
the most heralded rookie
in the NBA in quite some time,
number 32, Shaquille O'Neal.
The Magic and Miami Heat
archrivals battling it out.
And the opening tap
goes to Miami.
And the Shaquille O'Neal era
has begun in the NBA.
- So now you're in the NBA.
All the guys you used to see
and then dream about
and look at and drool over,
they're here now.
So I'm like, "You ain't
where Hakeem at yet."
♪
"You ain't
where David Robinson at."
- Shaquille O'Neal
is not used to this.
- "And you ain't
where Ewing at."
- Ewing with the spin.
Ewingyes!
- I wanted
to be that guy.
I wanted what Magic had.
I wanted what Dr. J had.
I wanted
what Michael Jordan had.
Michael had all of that.
And I wanted that.
How does he do it?
Michael Jordan. Ferocity.
Wanted to be the best ever.
When he gets fouled hard,
he's not shakin' nobody hand.
Like, I fouled him one time
and went to pick him up.
He said, "Don't do that.
"Don't ever help nobody up.
Good foul."
I was like, "Damn."
- And look at that pass.
- Oh, they stole it!
- Stolen by Scott.
- Well, obviously,
Shaq came in
with all the hype.
He didn't win a championship.
He never made
that miraculous Final Four run.
But his dominance
[whistle blows]
- Oh!
- He would sh**t
72% from the floor,
and people was like,
"Well, he doesn't have
a free throw,"
or, "He doesn't sh**t three."
Why would you?
Let the locomotive
keep coming down the track.
Until they figure out a way
to stop it, keep going.
And I think
that's the presence
Shaq brought into the NBA
as a rookie.
- So when you lookin'
at a god on TV
but then when you see him
in real life
and you realize
he's not a god,
now that so-called god
is in trouble.
- Shaq for two
over Olajuwon.
- Sets up O'Neal. Oh, my.
And then lets the crowd know,
"I'm here."
- The first time Patrick Ewing
shot a fadeaway jump shot
and I'm right there.
- Ewing.
- Ooh.
I think I can block that.
So now next time,
should get a little closer
when he get on that fadeaway.
My father said,
"You show a person respect
"by showing them none.
"I don't give a damn
that's Patrick Ewing.
You Shaquille O'Neal."
- Way of operating
offensively.
Ewing rejected by O'Neal.
- Yes, sir.
- Boy, thatwhen does that
happen to Patrick Ewing?
MaybeI don't remember.
- Uh-oh.
Your a*s is in trouble.
- We're gonna just stand up
and throw to the commercial.
- Okay.
- Standing up.
So does your mic
I don't think
your mic does that
stretches that far.
Here, hold on.
[rustling]
Okay.
We'll be back in a moment.
But first
I told you what to say.
- Oh, I forgot.
- Come here, come here.
[whispering indistinctly]
- Yeah. Sorry.
- Go ahead.
- This is "Today" on NBC.
One of my superpowers is,
I can stop time.
And what I mean by that is,
I can foresee stuff
before it happens.
So I had a professor,
Tommy Karam.
He pulled me to the side
and said,
"Why you don't never
want to speak up in the class?"
"'Cause when I g-g-et nervous,
I stutter."
Profess-professional athlete.
[stuttering]
So then we used to set up
fake interviews.
He used to come in
with a little VHS camera,
ask me a question,
and then we'd stop
and go over it.
So now I'm practicing at home
by myself.
[upbeat music]
Click. Watch.
"Don't come in
like you're superintelligent,
"'cause you're not.
"Move that out the way.
"Funny.
"Let them know you're cool.
Be confident. Be humble."
All right. Play.
[click]
And then he said the words
I needed to hear.
He said,
"When you talkin' to that,
that's just more money
in your pocket."
Stop.
[tape squeals]
I think I'mOrlando
S-H-A
Mickey Mouse.
Q-I-E
Let me see that hat.
S-H-A-Q-I-E ♪
M-O-U-S-E ♪
[laughter]
You gotta do interviews.
People are gonna love you.
You gonna make so much money
on the side.
I played all sports.
- Uh-huh.
- I played soccer.
- Were you good at soccer?
- I used to kick people.
Yeah.
[laughter]
- I'm not sure
that's the point of the game.
Ah. Ah, well.
Coming into the NBA,
I didn't want to be
a boring big man.
Big guys don't sell.
I'm not in that category.
I'm over here
in this category.
So I call Arsenio, and I say,
"Hey, man.
I want to be on your show,
but I want to be different."
"What do you mean, brother?"
I say, "At the end of the show,
can I rap
with my favorite rap group?"
- Making his TV debut
[chuckles]
Performing "What's Up Doc?"
with his friends,
who happen to be
the fastest-rising rap group
on the charts, Shaquille O'Neal
and Fu-Schnickens.
- I didn't even know
Fu-Shnickens at the time.
- Yeah, can we rock ♪
Yeah, what's up, Doc ♪
- We practiced the song
once or twice,
and then when the show came,
I k*lled it.
Yo, I'm the hooper, hyper,
protected by a viper ♪
When I'm out there hoopin',
yo, you better decipher ♪
- They went on and performed.
Next thing you know,
they did a music video,
"What's Up, Doc?"
I get a call from Barry Weiss,
the CEO of Jive Records.
He says, "I want to sign Shaq
to a record deal."
- Said, "Man,
I ain't no rapper."
"$10 million."
"What?"
[gears rumbling]
- Forget Tony Danza,
I'm the boss ♪
When it comes to money
I'm like d*ck the frost ♪
- What a rebound.
He has gone after it
with a vengeance.
No look-see, Dennis Scott.
- That's okay,
not being braggadocious ♪
Supercalifragilistic,
Shaq is alidocious ♪
Peace, I gotta go,
I ain't no joke ♪
- O'Neal sliding
[whistle blows]
- What's up, Doc,
can we rock ♪
What's up, Doc,
can we rock ♪
What's up, Doc ♪
- Goes to Reed. Driving shot.
Blocked by O'Neal
out-of-bounds.
- What's up, Doc,
can we rock ♪
- That's the kind of rebound
the Magic want from O'Neal.
For Shaquille.
Can we rock ♪
What's up, Doc,
can we rock ♪
- I would like to present
to Shaquille O'Neal
the Most Valuable
Rookie of the Year award.
[applause]
- Another trophy for me,
and I hope I can get
an NBA Championship trophy
to go along with it.
When I retire
and have children,
I can tell my son,
"Son, I was bad."
[laughter]
[chains rattle]
So my agent knew
a lot of people.
He says, "They want you
to play in this movie."
"I don't care if the movie's
terrible or not.
I'm not turning it down."
Before we start sh**ting,
I gotta work out.
So we're running a play,
and they're stealing clips.
And then this Penny guy is
that dude dropped me off nice.
[buzzer blares, crowd cheering]
- And to Hardaway for the jam.
- To me, I had a game plan.
Because what I wanted him
to know was that
if I got drafted
by the Magic
that I would be giving him
the ball
and putting him in position
to be the best
that he could be.
So everything that I did
was catered
towards making Shaq happy.
- I asked him one day, I said,
"How long you been an actor?"
He said, "No, no. I'm from
I'm Penny Hardaway.
"I went to Memphis State
and I put my name
in the draft."
"You did what?"
I can remember Dennis Scott,
my best friend on the team,
telling me, "Man, some point,
you gonna have to go upstairs,
"and it's gonna have
to get ugly, big dog.
This your team."
John Gabriel.
I called him on the phone
and said,
"Hey, man,
You heard of Penny Hardaway?"
"Oh, yeah, I heard of him.
He's really good.
But we probably want to go
with Chris Webber."
"Man, I don't need
no power forward
"that likes to sh**t the ball.
"I need somebody
that's gonna give me
"the damn ball.
"If you don't pick
the Penny guy, brother,
"I think we gonna have
some problems at
you know, when my deal is up."
- With the first pick
in the 1993 NBA Draft,
the Orlando Magic
- Orlando Magic
[both] Select Chris Webber.
[cheers and applause]
- I tear my back house up.
Break the glass.
"You tellin' me
I'm the leader.
And then when I come to you
with something and you don't
I mean, I'm still a pawn.
[touch tones beeping]
Callin' him, pissed off.
And then in the middle
of the draft
- Ladies and gentlemen,
I'd like to report a trade.
Orlando has traded
the draft rights
to Chris Webber to Golden State
for the draft rights
to Anfernee Hardaway.
- Chris Webber to Golden State
for Penny Hardaway.
Now I'm like
- When the Magic started,
the Nick Anderson,
you know,
the Scott Skiles, it was fun.
It was,
"Hey, the Magic's in town."
But when Shaq came,
it was like they were
a real professional team now.
Then draft night,
I look over to Nick Anderson.
I said, "This is Shaq
and Penny's team now."
[percussive music]
And everything just took off.
[upbeat music]
- First year with Penny
was phenomenal.
He was the true definition
of a point guard.
True definition
of a point guard
is one that makes
players around them better.
- Hardaway feeds O'Neal.
- He was always looking
for me first.
- Penny Hardaway fumbles
- He's looking for me so much,
I don't have to tell him,
"Yo, man, I'm tired right now.
You sh**t."
- Normally got there.
Skiles hit Hardaway,
is twisted,
but Shaq hammers it in.
- We didn't have no problems.
No problems, no arguments,
no fights.
And they said that we were
the youngsters of the future.
- The wave of the future
- The freight train,
we knew we were gettin' that
every night.
We knew
Shaq was gonna play hard.
And Penny was so gifted,
you just couldn't guard him
at 6'8" as a point guard.
- Penny pattycakes.
- Everywhere we went,
from the time
Shaq and Penny came together,
was a party.
- Shaq, may I please have
an autograph, please?
- That's when we became
a household name.
- [vocalizing
"Inspector Gadget" theme song]
♪
Another Dr. Lucille O'Neal
quote:
before you succeed,
you must first learn to fail.
We got swept by the Pacers
'cause we didn't know
how to win yet.
Wasn't good enough.
We're a young team.
They a veteran team.
They know all the tricks,
and we wasn't ready yet.
Third year,
we got Horace Grant.
- One last time, Horace Grant.
- We were confidence.
Penny was an all-star.
I was an all-star.
Everything was flowin' great.
And then you go up against
the great Michael Jordan.
- It came
in a two-word statement,
"I'm back."
That was really all
Jordan needed to say
as his 17-month retirement
came to an end.
- The young student
must k*ll the master
to become the master.
Mike is the man.
He left, he comes back.
I don't care
if it's Michael on the court.
[dramatic music]
- I knew for us
to get over the hump,
we were gonna have to go
through the Bulls,
the team that won
three championships in a row.
But we knew
the competitive nature
of Michael Jordan
and Scottie Pippen.
We were the young g*ns.
♪
We weren't really caring
about any of that.
We just knew
that we had to go ball.
- Shaquille O'Neal
over Michael.
That's another three
for Anfernee Hardaway.
- And that's what we did.
- I turn to a savage
and a beast ♪
- And there's Shaq.
- Shaquille.
- Backs him all the way
and goes up
and dunks the ball.
- Had some problems
at the end of the year.
That's Hardaway
with the reverse.
- Jordan hard to the hoop.
The reverse from Michael!
- Shaquille down low.
Ran the double team.
Hardaway hammer time.
- Pippen driving,
stripped by O'Neal.
O'Neal dunks the ball.
- It's all over.
And the Bulls' season
comes to an end
here at the United Center,
and the Orlando Magic,
the number one team
- It was like winning
the respect battle.
It was winning
the barbershop news.
And that
was the bragging rights.
For that weekend, that day,
we kicked the Bulls' butt.
- Now, just think about it.
You just beat Michael Jordan.
Who else is left?
Ain't nobody else left
in the league.
- We weren't worried
about playing
the Indiana Pacers in
the Eastern Conference final.
- The crowd's
standing and cheering,
and they may not sit down
till Wednesday.
- We have
about six, seven days off.
We partyin'.
Me and D Scott,
we in Atlanta at Magic City.
We did a rap song.
- Just a little bit
of magic tonight ♪
B Shaw, myself.
Everything's gonna be
all right ♪
Then Penny came by,
but Penny didn't really rap.
He was just there.
We were the Showtime
of the South.
And we wanted to say,
"Hey, we know we're good."
So game one of the finals,
we're rollin'.
I'm hittin' threes.
Shaq's dunkin'.
Penny's doing his thing.
- We was up the whole game.
And, like, they come back
and they go crazy.
And Nick Anderson,
he has the chance
to make two free throws.
He misses,
gets his own rebound,
gets fouled again.
I'm like, "Bro, just hit
these two free throws
"so we can get this
little lead, get it stopped.
We gonna win the first game."
- Well, the three
to make four rule, that's
[chuckles] That's
- And then Nick misses
those free throws.
- And he misses four straight.
The Rockets
- We lose our mojo.
Tide changes. Hakeem gets hot.
Drexler's doing his thing.
- And then we lost game one.
- The Houston Rockets
have stunned
the Orlando Magic.
- Now we're worried.
The problem
with the finals is,
I was going up
against one of my idols
and I showed him
too much respect.
[crowd cheering]
Now we come into game two,
and they blow us out.
We go to game three
in Houston, and we lose.
[cheers and applause]
We go to game four
[crowd cheering]
They blow us out.
- The Houston Rockets
have swept the Orlando Magic.
- We were still young
and naive.
Did we say all
the right things in practice?
Did we do all the right things
in practice?
Did we come out and play hard?
We did! We tried.
That is
That is my saddest moment
To be honest with you.
Because we never
Got it back.
[upbeat music]
- I'm walking down the street
in Chicago.
This lady comes up to me
and says,
"You shouldn't do that
to your father.
You should give him
a second chance."
I'm like,
"What are you talking about?"
- Can you imagine losing
contact with your son
and being able
to hear about him
only through the press?
- And then I get home.
I called my mom.
I said, "Mommy, look,
did Daddy do something?"
And she's
"No.
But Joe Toney done went
on the 'Ricki Lake' show."
I'm like, "What? Who?"
- Joe Toney is
Shaquille O'Neal's birth father
and hasn't spoken to him
in over a decade.
He says no matter how hard
he has tried
to contact Shaquille,
his requests to see his son
have been turned down.
- Basically,
when Shaquille was born,
I got in trouble.
I was involved with drugs.
And when he was six months old,
I got locked up.
I went to prison
for five years.
When I came back from prison,
she had married
this gentleman in the service
and they moved to Germany.
They gave me a bogus address
at which to get in touch
with them which didn't work.
But like I said, I just want
to get the message
I just want a few minutes
of his time.
- I can almost believe
that he heard about Shaquille
from the time he was becoming
national news.
And it probably was burning
in himhe missed everything.
But Shaquille didn't care.
He wrote a song about Phil.
He said, "He took me
from a boy to a man.
"And Phil is my father
'cause my biological
didn't bother."
- Took me from a boy
to a man ♪
"Oh, I just want to see him.
I want to do this.
I want to do that."
But in my mind, it's,
"When I was trying to get
some shoes, where were you?"
My mom always told me,
"Hey, beware.
Once you get this money,
everybody comin'."
And he was the first one.
Biological didn't bother ♪
Bother, bother, bother ♪
That year,
Penny redid his contract.
He sat out a couple games.
Wanted more money than me,
which is fine.
'Cause one thing I understood
was marketing and business.
You pay him $30 million,
you gotta pay me $60 million.
- It was never
in the negotiations
where I was saying
I need to make more
than anybody on the team,
Shaq or anyone.
I just wanted my worth.
- I create jealousies
for myself.
If you have something,
internally, I say I want it.
And then I just gotta
go get it.
- And then
with his tenth three-pointer,
a new NBA record
- I knew that Shaq has to get
the first shot.
If you didn't understand that
about him,
then that's where
you were gonna have problems.
Being the biggest guy
in the room,
he wants the biggest
and the most of everything.
That's for his own ego.
Our team was young,
pretty immature.
I think that
that slowly started to affect
the camaraderie or lack of it.
- That's the first part
of destroying a franchise,
destroying a team,
because your two best players
need to be on the same page.
Like, he was upset
that I was getting
more money
or the same amount of money
or that he deserved more.
But I felt like he was the man
and that they were gonna do
for him what needed to be done.
- We came back next year.
We're rollin'.
But it wasn't
that same feeling.
Is Shaq stayin' now?
Is Shaq leavin'?
Is he gettin' a contract?
Everything changed.
[buzzer blares]
- A look
at the starting lineups.
The Magic will start
without Shaquille O'Neal.
- Well, in 1996,
my grandmother died.
After the funeral,
I just needed a couple days
to just relax.
But they callin' me,
"We're playin' the Bulls.
Come, come, come."
Like, "No, I'm not comin'."
That's more important to them
than my family.
A damn game.
- Here comes Shaquille O'Neal.
With a sense of drama,
Shaquille O'Neal just arrived
at the arena.
He is hustling back
to the Orlando locker room
and, obviously, will try
to get himself into uniform
and will be appearing
on the bench.
- So I come in the middle.
We lose.
And I do something
I wasn't supposed to do.
I go upstairs and say,
"We startin' off
at $115 million."
They, whoever they may be,
did a poll.
"Is Shaq worth $115 million?"
And the town said no.
- Well, I just think
if Shaq is as good
as he thinks he is,
why do they ever have
25, 30 rebounds in a game?
Why didn't he step up
in the fourth quarter?
You know, he was
- Shaquille O'Neal,
who's already a millionaire
and has a mansion,
how much more does he need?
- How dare you ask
the community
should he be paid that much?
You know better.
Or maybe you don't.
- I just think that the man
didn't want to play
for the Magic anymore
because he wasn't
the main man anymore
because we got Penny.
- It reminded me of Snoop Dogg
at the Source Awards.
- The East Coast don't love
Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg?
- Orlando Magic, y'all
don't love Shaquille O'Neal?
- Y'all don't love us?
- Y'all don't love me?
- Shaq wanted to stay
with the Orlando Magic.
He was a small-town guy.
Instead of offering
the most dominant player
in basketball a max deal,
they started playing around
trying to negotiate with him.
It really made him feel
disrespected.
- There's no loyalty
in any game.
So get a call from my guy.
He said, "They offered you
$80 million for four.
I'm like, "That's cool.
I could take that."
Basketball gods or something
said, "Don't do it."
- How much he get?
- Congratulations, Zo.
Man, I'm just, you know,
hoping to get
a pretty good deal.
The Miami Heat signed Juwan
for $110 million
and Alonzo for $115 million.
And I'm like,
"I done k*lled both of them
their whole career."
- Oh! Oh, what a dunk.
- If a top-of-the-line BMW
costs $110 million,
what does a top-of-the-line
Mercedes cost?
Much more.
So then we're in the Olympics.
We're trainin'.
Uncle Jerome and I were out
at a gentleman's club,
I may add.
- I remember he got a call
from his agent at the time
that we had to meet him.
It was, like,
early in the morning.
When we get there,
his agent is there
and Mr. West is there.
- And then he was like,
"Jerry, tell him."
And Jerry says,
"We got some good news
and I got some bad news."
And I said,
"What's the bad news?"
He said, "I can't get you
that $115 million."
I said,
"What's the good news?"
"I can get you
to $120 million."
I was like
- As a basketball player,
I cried.
Shaq on the floor
makes life easier
because he's that dominant.
- I didn't know
that he was leaving Orlando
until I saw
the actual press conference
with him holding
a Laker jersey
with Jerry West.
- Didn't communicate at all.
Not one time
did we call each other
and talk to each other
and talk it out.
- Penny didn't even know.
But all I really wanted
was for Penny to go
to the Orlando and say,
"Pay Shaq.
"Shaq stuck up for me.
Now I'm stickin' up for him.
Pay him."
But he never did that.
So in my mind, I was like,
"Okay, you want to be the man?
There you go."
In case you haven't
figured it out yet,
I've signed
with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Keep in mind
the word "change."
To me, change is for the good.
And right when I'm signin',
Jerry West says to me,
"In a couple years,
you're gonna be
"one of the best
basketball players
ever to play the game."
Pause. I was like,
"You know what?
You might be right."
[gears rumbling]
[bright tone]
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01x01 - From Shaquille to Shaq
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It showcases the life of the Lakers champion O'Neal from sports phenom to cultural figure.
It showcases the life of the Lakers champion O'Neal from sports phenom to cultural figure.