Before today’s regularly-scheduled post, a quick update: Our man Shaq is continuing his recovery from hip-repair surgery, and is doing well. Check recently-past posts for the full story and day-after updates. We’ll keep you posted, of course.
Meanwhile, a bit of Shaq-history today. Back when O’Neal was with his main team, the Los Angeles Lakers, and how he reached out to new members of the team as they arrived on the bustling west coast.
Credit where it’s due: Thanks to our friends at Sportscasting.com for info on this story. It’s all about how – when Shaq was already a Lakers veteran – he welcomed new player Tyronn Lue to the team. We’re always talking about what a good guy Shaq is… Lue can attest to that personally.
More recently, Lue is well know as the former coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, back during the LeBron James days. With Lue at the helm and LeBron on the floor, the Cavs won the NBA Championship in the 2016 season.
Yet it was back in the late 1990s when Lue was a player himself, starting his career with the Lakers through the 1998 draft. There to greet him was LA’s larger-than-life center, Shaquille O’Neal.
At the time, the Lakers hadn’t quite yet hit their winning stride, but with Shaq and Kobe on the team, it was only a matter of time.
On a recent Pivot podcast, Lue talked about his arrival in the Lakers locker room. “So, Eddie Jones, like, took me under his wing… Kinda showed me the ropes and taught me everything. And so, the first week I got in town, he took me to the Century Club, and I went to the Century Club, and I met Shaq. Like the first night.”
Lue remembers meeting the big man very well. Who wouldn’t? He remembers his first conversation. Again, from the podcast: “Shaq was like, ‘Man, glad to have you. Come to the house tomorrow, have a big meal, whatever, whatever.’ And so we go over to Shaq’s house the next day. He gives me, I think, twenty-thousand dollars cash. Like, ‘I know you ain’t got no money. I know it’s the lockout. You know, take care of yourself.’ Fed us well, and that kind of helped me out because I would have been in awe. I don’t know what I would have expected if I just walked into practice and seen Shaq and Kobe, you know? And so, Shaq just made me feel welcome right away.”
NBA contract talks had stalled that year, and as Lue mentioned, there was a player lockout in effect when he got to LA. Players were not being paid, so Shaq must have wanted to be sure Lue would be able to take care of himself before the paychecks started up again.
Asked about the money, Lue told the podcast audience that Shaq never wanted the money back. Quite the welcome!
There are other stories of Shaq’s generosity with teammates from that era. Not only that, you can dig back through the archives of the ShaqFu Radio blog and find stories of how O’Neal has helped random people in stores and restaurants.
So here’s yet another story of Shaq being Shaq – helping out where and however he can. Awesome stuff…