Shaquille ‘Shaq’ O’Neal does not do anything halfway and this is yet another example of how the 4-time NBA champion broke all barriers and succeded at something yet again. ‘The Big Leprechaun’ started his basketball career officially in 1992 when he was drafted by Orlando Magic. He has achieved many things – both on and off the court. However, if the scales of fate had shifted just a little, his legacy might have vanished before it even started.

Even though he is perhaps one of the most financially successful ballers turned entrepreneurs nowadays, the 3x Finals MVP winner wasn’t always this savvy with his money. In fact, his bank account ended up in the red just days after he received $1 million from his first endorsement just after being drafted. And boy did he splurge.

Shaquille O’Neal’s pride nearly landed him in trouble

As ‘Superman’ explained in an interview, he had little to no knowledge about taxation at the time. After receiving his first payment from his trade to the LA Lakers, the then 24-year old rising NBA star went on a huge shopping spree. He took his first $20 million check and went to a Rolls Royce dealership.

There, as Shaq was browsing, a salesman came up to him and hurt his pride by asking him if he could even ‘afford’ it. In retaliation, Shaq ended up buying 3 Rolls Royce Cars worth $1.3 million from there. But the big man didn’t stop.

Then he bought a $7 million condo in LA preparing for his move there. When all was said and done, he’d spent about $10.5 million. That was when he got a reality check from his accountant, who informed him about FICA. He felt the ground slip from under his feet when he realized that around half the money that he had received would be going to the government as taxes.

However, he was saved from getting in big trouble as the banker covered for him, knowing that ‘The Big Aristotle’ was good for it.

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Shaquille O’Neal opened up new doors and landed himself ‘extraordinary’ offers

‘Mayor McShaq’ has done it all, including rapping with his favorite musicians in his debut album Shaq Diesel. During a recent interview with Suzy Shuster at The Rich Eisen Show, he revealed that athletes, or other celebrities, going out of their lane and doing something else was unheard of at the time.

In fact, when he called the rapper Chip-Fu, he was hung up on several times as the writer thought that the player was an imposter. However, in the end, he got what he wanted and the album was a huge success. ‘Diesel’ also received a hefty offer of $10 million for 3 more albums from Jive Records.

Considering this happened in 1993, only a year after he was drafted, if Shaq had decided, he could very well have quit basketball altogether and stuck to music full-time.

When you think about it, ‘The Big Shamrock’ does indeed seem to have done it all, except for sky diving, as he jokingly revealed in the interview. What do you think Shaq can’t do? Leave your answers in the comments.

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