If you’ve followed k-os from the start of his career, you’d know a few NBA players had a huge part in his career. John Salley was the one who discovered him when he won two of his four rings. Salley brought the young Kevin Brereton of Canada his first music equipment, brought him to the US, and introduced him to his teammates. After an overseas stint, Salley was back in the NBA to claim one last title with Phil Jackson and another star duo on his team. At the same time, he got Shaquille O’Neal to help out his friend.

Kevin Brereton’s religious upbringing as a Jehovah’s Witness made him reserved, though he was exposed to broad music tastes by his minister father. Salley wanted the York University student to reach his full potential. When he played for the Chicago Bulls, he brought Brereton to Chi-town and introduced him to Michael Jordan. And when he signed with the Los Angeles Lakers, he brought Brereton to LA too.

“He really just wanted me to see what America was about,” Brereton recalled on Q with Tom Power. Salley had discovered him during his tenure with the Raptors even before his first album. While Brereton said Salley was “selfish” to want his mentee to succeed, he understood why he insisted on it. That’s probably why he agreed to come to LA because of Salley.

Salley put him up in a local hotel and introduced him to Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. K-os would go on to release his second single, ‘Superstar Pt. Zero’ during the Lakers’ three-peat with a huge boost from athlete rapper, Shaq Diesel.

“The irony is that one of my [songs] ‘Superstar Pt. Zero’ which was kind of my breakout track in America, broke out because Shaq had met me and he was like, ‘there’s this kid from Canada,’ and they played ‘Superstar Part Zero’ on some TSN like interview that Shaq had and it just blew up after that,” said Brereton.

k-os released his first single, ‘Musical Essence’ in 1995 when he met Salley first. By the time he moved to LA, he came to his own. ‘Superstar Pt. Zero’ won the ‘Best Music Video’ award at the 2003 Urban X-Posure Awards showcasing his growth as an artist. A big part of it is credited to Shaq’s promotion of it.

“Shaq lowkey, Shaq being who he is, but one of the things he can put a feather in his cap is that if it wasn’t for him, I don’t think people would have heard that song,” is what k-os believes now.

Shaq does love promoting underrated artists. He collaborates with GAWNE and the 3 Lokos for his comeback to rap but he also gathered newbie DJs to perform at his Bass All-Star festivals. The same extended to his teammates too.

Shaq helped out John Salley and his friend

John Salley had an emerging entertainment career parallel to his NBA career too. He wanted to promote artists like k-os further. That’s why he put the musician up in the Waldorf in Chicago and introduced him to Michael Jordan to get him exposure. 

While Salley played overseas, k-os was content producing music while attending York University in Canada. Los Angeles brought him closer to the urban culture and made him define his genere. At the same time, he was helping out Salley too.

Close to retirement, Salley’s primary job was to make Shaq and Kobe adapt to the triangle offense. It led the duo to their first three titles. O’Neal maintained his friendship with Salley well after that, even bailing him out of financial difficulties. His little gestures are why Salley and his friend still speak about Shaq’s big heart.