Los Angeles Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal will forever be known as one of the most dominant big men in NBA history. He left the Orlando Magic to team up with a young Kobe Bryant on the Lakers and they’d ultimately win three championships in a row from 2000-02.
He has since been immortalized with a retired jersey in the rafters of Crypto.com Arena alongside other legends.
After a successful playing career, O’Neal has become successful off the court in business and as an analyst on TNT. He has now decided to fund a new Boys & Girls Club court in L.A., giving back to the community where he experienced great success, via Chuck Schilken of The L.A. Times:
O’Neal said: “When I was here [with the Lakers], I came [to the Challengers club] a lot and handed out toys, handed out bikes, handed out laptops. So I’m familiar with this place. And the court was very, very beat up, so kudos to Icy Hot and the Shaquille O’Neal Foundation for doing the right thing.”
In addition to the refurbished court, O’Neal announced Thursday he would be personally donating $20,000 to the club and a pair of Reebok sneakers to all the 160 or so young club members in attendance.
“All the kids know who Uncle Shaq is,” O’Neal said. “It’s kind of amazing. I haven’t played ball in 12 years but they know who I am — and if they don’t know who I am, they’ll know today.”
It was a full circle moment for the four-time champion to contribute to a new court that he spent time at during his playing career. It seems that O’Neal is a fan of the finished product:
“I like the purple and gold court,” O’Neal said before the festivities, which also included a DJ and a slam dunk contest for the kids. “I like the brand new, glass Icy Hot backboards. I like the Shaquille O’Neal Foundation logo right there, so kids know Uncle Shaq bought it. Everything about it is great.”
O’Neal gave it his all during his time in L.A. by bringing in three championships and making one of the greatest duos ever alongside Bryant.
Now, he is taking it upon himself to give back to the community that supported him during those times. It was a great gesture made by the Hall of Famer.
O’Neal would have done same thing as Draymond Green in altercation with Rudy Gobert
This past week featured a big time scuffle between the Golden State Warriors and Minnesota Timberwolves that had Draymond Green putting center Rudy Gobert in a headlock. O’Neal weighed in and said he would’ve done the same thing as Green to defend his teammates.
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