500K People Couldn’t Convince Lakers Legend Shaquille O’Neal, But $50 Million Did the Trick: “I’m Tapping into Some of That”

Shaquille O’Neal has always been a fierce competitor on and off the basketball court. The Big Diesel always likes to make the best of his endeavors no matter what he does. The NBA Hall of Famer is a four-time NBA champ and a three-time finals MVP. Following his retirement, Shaq invested his attention in various business and artistic ventures, bringing him a lot of success and recognition.

Recently, Shaq revealed the story of how he came to become DJ Diesel on the most recent episode of the Drink Champs podcast, featuring N.O.R.E. & DJ EFN. O’Neal has always loved to prove his critics wrong and that is exactly how his ‘DJ thing’ began. The 15-time NBA All-Star admitted that when you don’t do something people think you cannot do it. So, Shaq started DJing in college to prove that he could.

Shaquille O’Neal becomes DJ Diesel

Shaq began his journey with two SP 1200s and a Gemini mixer. In addition, B street was his first album. However, Shaquille O’Neal distanced himself from DJing when he got involved with rapping.

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Then, a girl that Shaq was dating took him to an EDM concert for the first time. The Big Diesel experienced a crowd of 500k people jamming together at the concert. However, the massive crowd couldn’t convince the Los Angeles Lakers legend to start being a DJ again. But later, when he read an article about DJs making $50 million dollars, Shaq could not resist his calling to become DJ Diesel. Shaquille admitted, “I’m tapping into some of that.”

Furthermore, O’Neal shared that he started doing celebrity gigs initially. He did some ordinary clubs and pool parties for about a year in the beginning. Presently, Shaq performs gigs with stadiums filled with a crowd of around 150K, now that people know how good he is. The big man reckoned that it took him a while to get a hang of the trade. He has been honing his DJing skills since 1988 and has mastered how to read crowds fairly well.

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Shaq has always been closely associated with the entertainment and music industry since his NBA days. The 50-year-old has featured in movies and has his own rap albums and records. He is an established DJ and skilled enough to organize sensational events. O’Neal is also a successful businessman with a net worth of over $400 million.