In a new interview with sports journalist Graham Bensinger, Shaq talks about the drive to complete his education, all the way up to Ph.D level, and how that’s helped guide him in post-NBA business dealings.
Sure, we often see the goofy side of Shaq, especially with his buddies on TNT’s “Inside the NBA” and other sports-related shows and appearances. Just as an example, he once joked about the moon being closer to Atlanta than Los Angeles because he can ‘see the moon’ from the Georgia city.
Yet O’Neal also goes by the moniker “The Big Aristotle” (an ancient Greek philosopher for those who don’t want to bother with Google). He’s got the education chops, for sure, and he’s put them to work in his business dealings. So much for the not-so-bright “jock” stereotype.
Along with his college time at LSU – where he also put in a record-setting on-court career, O’Neal continued his extended education while he was in Los Angeles with the Lakers.
First, he finished his bachelors’ degree, then went on to work for and obtain an Doctorate in Education from Barry University in 2012. Since, he’s been a huge advocate of kids programs, especially those with a tie to improved education. He’s often talked about not ‘letting his children off the hook’ in terms of building up a relevant academic background, even if they’re going to be playing college hoops.
Shaq has repeatedly talked about how his burning desire to obtain higher education comes from his mother. He thanks his mother Lucile for constantly motivating him to finish his degree:
“I leave school, I get $40 million, I get $100 million, I get $80 million. But I’m getting calls once a week. ‘Yeah you’re doing movies, you’re doing albums, but you promised me you’d go back to school.’ I never like to let my mom down, so I went.”
He continued: “And then, you know, I left my junior year so I was only a few credits short. So I go back to school 2 hot summers in Baton Rouge. And I’m loving it but hating at the same time, but I’m like ‘Lets do it for mom’.”
Shaq talks about how he felt when business people would talk to his agents, rather than directly to him. “So I got my bachelor’s degree in 2000. But then I realized that when you go to a business meeting, they talked to me, then they talked to my guy. And I found that disrespectful, right? I’m making the final decision anyway, I understand.”
So the big man was determined to continue his education, to help him in future business dealings. He remembers thinking: “You don’t think I understand the terms? I’ll be back – so I did my masters in business from the University of Phoenix just to let them know. That I understand what’s going on, that you can talk to me, and I’ll relay the information to my agent.”
Here’s the full video, for your viewing pleasure: