Shaquille O’Neal admits to not being the smartest growing up. “I didn’t make a 1900 on the SAT,” he says. And neither was he an exceptional athlete right from age 9. He was in fact, cut from his ninth grade basketball team because of his clumsiness. The times he has admitted to getting in trouble with his father would reveal he wasn’t away from some mischief either. Yet, Odessa, Lucille O’Neal’s mother, who was a safe space for the now-NBA legend, never swayed in her belief in the greatness Shaq was destined to.

“My mother used to tell me that, that one right there he’s special. That one right there. And I don’t know what she saw. I didn’t see anything until later on,” Lucille O’Neal revealed on ‘Atlanta News First’ during the promotion of her memoir, While I Have Your Attention. We know how that turned out.

Four NBA championships, three Finals MVPs, the 2000 regular season MVP, and 15 All-Star selections. And he wouldn’t limit himself to on-court success. Taking ahead his love for a few of his family recipes he grew up eating, Shaq would introduce Big Chicken to his now $500 million empire, built on his investments in various franchises including Five Guys, Papa John’s, and Krispy Kreme among others.

Trouble-maker as he was, the Big Diesel’s parents and Odessa — Lucille’s strength in raising her four kids as an initially single teen mom — ensured to keep recognizing the good in him. “I began to see the gift when he expresses dreams to me and I began to nurture that and let him know that I’m with him. Whatever you want to do you can do, encouragement. So we don’t know that they gonna be famous and the world is gonna know them but we have to do the best that we can to nurture the gift that you see,” added Lucille during the segment.

Shaq recognizes the efforts and is grateful for all they have guided with. He expressed the same when he gifted his mom a house during his early years in the NBA. For his grandmother, he would build something more.

Shaquille O’Neal’s wish for his grandmother

Although Shaquille O’Neal hasn’t talked much about his grandparents publicly, the seven-footer has expressed all his love through his book, ‘Shaq Uncut.’ One of the instances included a poignant story about his grandmother, Odessa, and a personal vow he made in her honor.

After being unable to give Odessa a gold memorial due to financial constraints, Shaq dedicated one of his most impressive performances to her memory. “Since she passed away, I have privately dedicated every game played on April 2 to her. I go to work for her that day. I once scored 50 points against the Nets on April 2, but I never told anyone what motivated me. Odessa Chambliss still motivates me. She was a great woman, and sometimes I still can’t believe she’s gone,” wrote Shaquille O’Neal in his book.

The particular performance that Shaq talks about in his book was from a Los Angeles Lakers vs New Jersey Nets game in 1998. Odessa passed away due to cancer the summer two years before. The now-4x champion wasn’t able to play a game for the Orlando Magic because he was down in grief. But he would slowly pick himself up and years later, started the Odessa Chambliss Quality of Life Fund in 2011 in her loving memory.

Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger