Shaquille O’Neal is one of the greatest basketball players in the history of the game. He is also one of the most popular players in the history of the game. Shaq has won numerous championships, is a wildly popular NBA analyst, and is a pitchman for seemingly half of the products being sold on television.
Shaq is also a gregarious, lovable character who regularly gives massive amounts of money to charities and needy individuals. As he grows older, Shaq is sharing his wisdom with his followers on social media, and based on the impressions, people are listening.
As of Wednesday, O’Neal’s post had received more than 3 million views. He wrote on X: “The older you get the more you realize how precious life is. You have no desire for drama, conflict or stress. You just want good friends, a cozy home, food on the table, and people who make you happy.”
It’s unclear what prompted this self-introspection from Shaq, but he certainly reflects what most people think as they age. Unfortunately, economic conditions in Joe Biden’s America have made it harder for middle-class Americans to live drama and stress-free.
Shaq has been famous and easily recognizable since the 1990s, with his celebrity being dwarfed only by Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Kobe Bryant. Despite that, Shaq vowed long ago to try to live as normally as possible and eschew the trappings that come with mega-celebrity status.
He recently said: “I denounced myself from being a celebrity 30 years ago because a lot of celebrities are a–holes. I don’t want to be in that category. I’d rather demote myself to being just a regular person before you call me a celebrity and put me in the category of those jerk–s.”
While being wildly popular, O’Neal hasn’t been as successful with the ladies, at least in terms of keeping one. He spoke of some of his relationship failings and how to successfully avoid those mistakes in the future. He added: “I had two perfect women and I messed it up. My first one was my baby mother, Arnetta, and then I met Shaunie. Shaunie was also a perfect woman, and I messed it up. Yeah, you know, we were young and always just doing dumb stuff. But, the good thing about our relationship is that they forgave me, and we have a good relationship now. But when you ask me about the perfect woman – I had two perfect women and I messed it up, just by, you know, being dumb.”
To his credit, O’Neal takes ownership of his mistakes and has learned and grown from his experiences. Many people can’t say that. Shaq added the perfect game plan for maintaining a relationship based on his experience. He continued: “… First thing you have to be is honest, honest with yourself and honest with your partner… I tell my sons all the time, a man has three jobs when it comes to a woman. Protect, provide and love. Some men can only offer two, for whatever reason, but I’ma teach you how to offer all three. And that’s what I try to do – and even though I don’t have a relationship with the women that I let get away, I will always PPL: protect, provide and love, whatever they need, they get it from me.”
Shaquille O’Neal remains one of our most-loved sports celebrities. He’s an actor, a rapper, a pitchman, an analyst, a dad, and one of the most entertaining public figures of his generation. Now, he is offering his advice to millions on social media, and hopefully, some are paying attention.
