?It Can Definitely Save a Life?: Generous Shaquille O?Neal Joins Hands With NBA Hall of Famer for $20 Million Noble Project

The relationship between Shaquille O?Neal and Alonzo Mourning initially got off on the wrong foot. From 1992 until they became teammates, they constantly locked heads. They endorsed competing companies while publicly calling out each other’s talent and skills. However, in 2005, the two became teammates. This move led to a friendship filled with admiration and respect. Now, this terrific duo is working on giving back to the community, while also aiming to save lives.

On the ‘Big Podcast with Shaq’, Shaquille O’Neal spoke about how he mended things with Alonzo Mourning. While calling himself to be a hypocrite, Shaq supposedly apologized to Mourning the day they became teammates on the Miami Heat roster. He said, “You know what Alonzo, I was a hypocrite. I never knew you were this great.”?

On the other hand, Mourning believed that both of them realized that with their skills combined, they could create something special which they did. In 2006, the duo along with Dwayne Wade won the NBA title for the Miami Heat. Since then, the Shaq-Mourning partnership has continued to create special things.

Shaquille O’Neal teams up with Alonzo Mourning once again

Shaquille O’Neal and Alonzo Mourning are philanthropists. With that said, the two Hall of Famers have joined hands to help the community of South Florida.

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It was announced earlier in the week that the Shaquille O’Neal Foundation and Icy Hot are funding the renovation of a ‘Comebaq Court’ in the Overtown Youth Center in Florida. This Youth Center is founded and run by Alonzo Mourning.

The two stated they are very aware that people look up to them. Hence, they are focused on giving these people “something that nobody else is giving them.” This $20 million renovation project focuses on providing children with the opportunity to train and become professional athletes.?However, the project also aims to teach children the values of teamwork, professionalism, and general life skills.

This court in the Youth Center will be the third Comebaq Court project in the United States. The other two are in Newark and Las Vegas. Shaq said, ?I?m doing Comebaq Courts all over the world, and it can definitely save a life.?I always tell the young ballers, if you want to shoot something, shoot a ball.??

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With that said, Mourning is beyond grateful to have the Los Angeles Lakers legend as the voice of the program. ?Having Shaq as a voice for this program and him advocating for what we do here, that helps us continue to expand and grow, and this is something I want to replicate across South Florida and beyond,??Mourning said.

The youth center is expected to be ready by the beginning of 2023.