Millionaire Shaquille O’Neal Once Admitted to Having Poached His Rival’s Identity in High School: “The Shaq Character Was Stolen”

NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal is arguably the most dominant big man ever. He took the league by storm as soon as he stepped foot on the hardwood for the Orlando Magic as the #1 pick. He soon became the face of the organization and the league with his monster slams. His opponents had a tough time handling him on both ends of the court. While he looked mean on the court, he is very cool off it. In fact, he was also one of the funniest players around and was always the joker on the team who made everyone laugh with his antics.

But the Shaquille O’Neal we know of wasn’t built overnight. He went through various phases of development to reach the top. And he took inspiration from some of the legends that came before him. Shaq once revealed about the players he drew inspiration from while growing up. Legends of the game like Magic Johnson, Wilt Chamberlain, the late Bill Russell, and Michael Jordan among others, inspired him over the years.

READ MORE – Shaquille O’Neal, Who Noticed When Serena Williams ‘Couldn’t Win’, Makes Encouraging Comeback Claim

In high school, he looked up to a few up-and-coming superstar centers like Patrick Ewing and David Robinson. The Big Diesel also disclosed who was the inspiration behind the ‘Shaq’ identity.

Shaquille O’Neal reveals the person behind the ‘Shaq’ character

Shaquille O’Neal was a superstar in high school. In two years of high school basketball, O’Neal had lost just one game. However, that did not stop him from adding more to his game. He looked up to some big men for inspiration and one such man was the influence behind the ‘Shaq’ character. O’Neal said, “A lot of people don’t know but the Shaq character was stolen. It was a guy who went to North Carolina State. His name is Charles Shackleford. He had the knee pads. So I stole his whole identity.” 

Fans of the superhit TV show “Office” would say “Identity theft is not a joke!” 

WATCH THIS STORY – 1986 Fleer Basketball Sealed Box: With Exclusive Michael Jordan Card and More, Which Was Sold For A Whopping 6 Figure Amount

While O’Neal was playing in high school, Charles Shackleford was playing for North Carolina State, which is a rival of Shaq’s future alma mater LSU. However, before Shaq joined LSU, Shackleford joined the NBA.

Because of his dominance, Shaq was able to try different styles of play. He would now and then try to be Magic with the coast-to-coast dribbling and passing. In addition, he also tried to be Dr. J now and then with some ‘jelly’ in his finishes. But that did not always sit well with his father Philip Harrison who was a sergeant. As a result, Shaq finally decided to accept his identity as a formidable dominant center.