Dad of six, Shaquille O’Neal hosted the Big Chicken family at the 2024 Go Big Conference. That’s where he caught up with Shawn P. Walchef, a big personality in the hospitality and media business. Walchef talked family and Big Chicken with O’Neal on his show, Restaurant Influencers. Ahead of the full episode’s release, he gave a little sneak-peek into Shaq’s little revelations. What intrigued Shaq was Walchef’s adorable company.

The podcaster was not alone at the conference. He brought along his son, Colin, and daughter Wila to work. If you’ve followed Walchef’s social media, you’d see his little kids are something of tiny restauranteurs and promoters themselves. They know how to behave while daddy is working and they had Shaq completely besotted.

O’Neal apparently went offtopic from the interview when he asked, “Can i say something about your beautiful family?” After getting Walchef’s permission, Shaq says, “Your kids remind me of my kids.”

“The fact that when daddy’s working, they know how to just chill and be quiet. You got two young babies over there not making any noise and my kids are like that on game day,” Shaq said. “They know from 12 to 3, play the game that if you wake daddy up, daddy will bite you. So they, I can hear walking around the house, whispering, playing toys, but you have a beautiful family.”

Colin and Wila are way younger than Taahirah, Myles, Shareef, Amirah, Shaqir, and Me’Arah. The youngest, Meezy, is a newly minted college student about to debut for the Gators. They’re all adults now but were a lot like the Walchef kids by Shaq’s own account.

O’Neal played in the NBA from 1992 to 2011. The eldest, Taahirah, was born in 1996, and Meezy was born in 2006. The kids were there during Shaq’s prime and four championships. They were apparently very mindful about their dad’s job. In the past, the 52-year-old proudly stated he has six “perfect” kids.

Dad Shaq’s ‘funny’ tactics

Shaquille O’Neal dubbed himself the “funny disciplinarian” of his kids. He credited his co-parents, Arnetta Yardbourgh and Shaunie Henderson, for being hands-on while he was away on his NBA schedules. But when he was around, he took a softer stance on them.

“I never spank my kids. I used to chase them around like I was a wild dog. ‘Didn’t I tell you to come here?’ Especially like when they were little … So it was a little different but it worked, for me,” Shaq said in 2022. He reiterated the same point to Marlon Wayans on The Big Podcast last week.

He grew up under a strict father and while he has boundless respect for him, Shaq doesn’t adopt his disciplining tactics.