Featured Image Credit: Getty Images
Topics: NBA, Basketball, Shaquille ONeal
Ryan Baldi
Shaquille O'Neal has amassed a sizeable fortune on and off the basketball court, and the former LA Lakers legend is known to be incredibly generous with his money.
The NBA icon shot to fame in the early 1990s as the most dominant big man in basketball after he joined the Orlando Magic.
O'Neal then earned what was at the time the biggest contract in NBA history when he signed for the Lakers as a free agent in 1996.
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He won three titles and an MVP during his time in LA, and added another championship in 2006 after he'd joined the Miami Heat.
"Big Deisel" was one of the best-paid sports stars of his era, but away from the court ventures in acting, music, punditry and investing have seen him accrue an estimated net worth of $500m.
O'Neal's famous random acts of kindness down the years have included paying for an engagement ring for a young person he was stood behind in a jewellery store queue, footing the funeral expenses of Dexter Rentz, a college football player who was killed in an Orlando shooting in 2020, and buying dinner and a new Mercedes-Benz for a young family of 11.
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And, in 2022, "Big Deisel" once even picked up the tab for an entire restaurant of diners.
Footing a bills said to have totalled "well over $25,000", he also reportedly included a sizeable tip for staff at the Jue Lan Club in New York.
The basketball legend was with a mystery woman, according to a diner who spoke to Page Six.
Shaq is said to have enjoyed some Beijing chicken, shrimp tempura and chicken before covering the bill for 40 tables, with a source saying: "And to top that off, he paid for everyone’s check [who was] dining at the restaurant."
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O'Neal was also said to be "extremely generous" to the staff and left "them the biggest tip they’ve ever received".
The 52-year-old didn't want to make a song and dance out of his gesture and wanted to keep the whole thing private and asked staff not to tell customers until he left.
Despite his mega-rich status, however, O'Neal has made it clear that his kids will not benefit without doing anything.
When appearing on the Earn Your Leisure podcast, he called for his six children to work hard for everything they get and that they cannot live off his wealth.
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"My kids are older now. They kinda upset with me - not really upset - but they don't understand," he said.
"Because I tell them all the time. We ain't rich. I'm rich.
"You've got to have Bachelor's or Master's [degrees] and then if you want me to invest in one of your companies, you're going to have to present it... bring it to me, I'll let you know. I'm not giving you nothing."
Although he made millions on the court, O'Neal is keen for his kids to be involved in other projects.
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He added: "There's one rule: education. I don't care if you play basketball. I don't care about none of that.
"Listen, I got six kids. I would like a doctor, somebody to own a hedge fund, a pharmacist, a lawyer, someone that owns multiple businesses, someone to take over my business.
"But I tell them I'm not going to hand it to you. You gotta earn it."