In the last century, it was hard for young African American kids to make friends with White kids. There was some sort of hesitancy and most of the time, it was due to racism. But that changed over the course of time, as kids started getting smarter. And that is how NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal made his first white friend.

Shaq grew up in a neighborhood where it was difficult to be friends with a White kid. So, he did not have a White friend for a really long time. But his mom, Dr. Lucille O’Neal gave his words of encouragement to Shaq to change.

Lucille O’Neal’s advice helped Shaquille O’Neal in making his first White friend

Shaq’s dad was a military man, and he was stationed in Germany for a while. He took the entire family with him. Shaq had a few friends, but none of them were White. But his mom gave him advice that changed his life. She said, “Times have changed. You just have to take people for what they’re worth. All white people ain’t like that no more.”

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Shaq adds how this helped him make his first White friend. Shaq says, “That opened the door for my friendship with Mitch Riles. He was my best friend growing up in Germany, a white guy who looked just like Larry Bird. He played like Bird. So, of course, I had to be Magic. I had the purple-and-gold Converse Weapons like Magic, and he had the green and white ones like Bird. We used to go at it every day.

“That’s when I really started playing basketball. His game was nice. I remember one time I had him defended well… He was behind the backboard. He shot that ball over the backboard and it went in, just like Bird. Everybody was like, “Oooh.”

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Getting over that boundary was very important for Shaq as he would go on to play in the NBA. He would also become a very successful businessman and he had to meet people of various ethnicities. He was also loved by his teammates, many of them who were White. And that happened only because Shaq’s mom gave him valuable advice.