Original subtitles

The world knows I'm a bullshitter.

Like, sometimes when you're telling a story

you want to add a little barbecue sauce.

I don't want to go

"I walked to the store and bought a loaf of bread."

Like, right, that's the gist of the story

but as I was walking to a store

a dog started chasing me and I ran up the tree.

The branch broke. I landed on my back.

And then when I land I thought the dog was gonna bite me

but he licked me in the face.

And then the lady came out and, "Oh, my God, she was beautiful.

And she was single. And now we're married."

Like, you just have to...

I'm not lying. I just like to add a little...

you know.

DJ Diesel, White Guy Classics... White Guy Classics.

That's how we did it in high school.

Yeah.

Yeah, that's how we did it.

Meet Shaquille O'Neal.

Averaging 47 points a game

Shaquille's a man among boys on the court.

That's a seven-footer! Are you serious?

LSU's Shaquille O'Neal is already being heralded

as one of the top centers in the universe.

Square off, and they're brawling.

The Orlando Magic selects Shaquille O'Neal

from Louisiana State University.

He brought the whole thing down!

I would like to present to Shaquille O'Neal

the Most Valuable Rookie of the Year award.

And the young Orlando Magic have come here to win in Chicago.

They have swept the Orlando Magic!

Shaq signed the largest deal in sports history

with the Los Angeles Lakers.

NBA MVP Shaquille O'Neal.

I'm-a bring the championship to Miami, I promise.

Congratulations, Miami.

Give it up to the greatest big man to ever play the game.

Can you dig it?

My mother comes from a very religious family.

So after I was born, we were outcasted.

Well, it was 1970s.

And a lot of the young women

were looking for unique names

for their children.

And I wanted him to have a name

that really spoke to who he was.

So we looked into a book of Islamic names.

Shaquille, meaning little one...

Rashaun, meaning warrior...

and you know our last name, O'Neal.

Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal.

She brought me home to my grandmother's house.

And it was like she saw a ray of light.

'Cause I'm-a tell you about the elderly women in my family.

All the stuff that's happened to me now?

They knew.

They knew.

They would always say...

Something special about that one.

It was something, something special.

We lived in a time where we had civil unrest.

A lot of things were a black-and-white issue.

And there was just stress outside of the home.

So laughter was one of the ways that we came together

and just really enjoyed being together.

And it made for a big, happy family.

We call him Daddy Shaq sometimes

'cause he was the oldest, and so he was the bossy one.

And then we had Lateefah.

She's the sensitive one.

And then we had Ayesha.

She was the one that was full of joy

and full of laughter.

And we got Jamal.

He took on a piece

of everybody else's personality.

And then Phil

being that strong disciplinarian.

And then here I am, I'm the peacemaker.

So we had a good time with our family.

Tell me about your service in the military.

Well, I'm stationed at Fort Sam Houston, Texas

in San Antonio.

I'm a supply sergeant there.

I'm assigned to the Academy of Health Science.

Looks like you've seen quite a bit of service too.

Oh, I've been there for eighteen and a half years.

I remember playing ball with his dad.

We used to play every Sunday.

Phil was just an absolute beast.

He grew up inner-city, where he played sports.

And then he was a military man.

We got married when Shaquille was close to two years old.

So Phil was his father.

And he's the only man and father that Shaquille has ever known.

We were all product of inner-city strength.

Phil made sure that his kids

wouldn't follow that same pattern.

Oh, it was a lot of love

a lot of discipline.

Like, my dad didn't...

he did some talking

but if you didn't listen, if you disobeyed

he'd put the crackdown on us.

He always told me, "I'm-a make you better than I was."

And my dad would always tell us

"Y'all might hate my ways..."

"But you love my results."

You ever heard that one?

The way I got a spankin'

if you're looking on the outside you would bring up the A-word.

But he would never come in and just knock me out for no reason.

I used to do a lot of kid stuff.

Then a strange thing happens.

As I'm starting to figure things out

and be more responsible around the house

I realized that my last name is different

from my brother's and sisters'.

So I said, "Mommy, why is my name Shaquille O'Neal

and Jamal, Lateefah

and Ayesha's last name is Harrison?

We were just told that Shaquille was born

before my mom and dad got married.

He kept the name O'Neal because it just sounded good.

And she said, "Baby, I always wanted to tell you this.

Sarge is not your real father."

What?

I wanted to ensure that he knew the truth.

And I introduced him when he got to an age

where he would understand

because I didn't want him to hear that from anybody else.

She said, "Would you like to meet your real father?"

"Yeah, I can get away from this motherfucker now

and go live with my other dad."

And we get in the car, and guess where we end up at.

The same projects I was born and raised in.

So we go in this guy's house, Joe Toney

and we're sittin' talkin'.

But I'm lookin' around like...

"I'm not comin' back to this shit."

He didn't care.

He's like, "Okay."

This guy at two years old when you married him

and I look at him and all the spankings I took?

This is my daddy.

The power of love is great.

We had so much love growing up.

I thought I was rich.

Money was tight but the love was overpowering the money

so we just all had this bond.

Our father had this motto

"If one jump in, we all jump in."

One time, this girl, she hit me in the mouth.

And I ran and told my sister.

So I just immediately went and hit her.

Her sister came from the side and blindsided me

so I fell on my back.

So Shaquille grabbed the sister by the collar

and he took Ayesha, our younger sister's hand

and started hitting her upside the face.

And then the brother came down there.

And this is when Shaquille he was, like, all into wrestling

so he picked the brother up

and he did, like, a backbreaker on him

and the guy's all on the floor.

And then the mom came, and she's yelling.

She's like, "Hey!" And then Shaquille's like

"Oh, my God, we gotta go. Let's run."

So he grabbed us all up, and we took off running.

And we get home, then...

knock on the door, and she was like, "Yeah, your kids beat up my kids.

"Your son did some kind of move on my son

and now his back is all hurting."

And my dad was like, "Ooh, I'm-a get y'all.

Wait when they leave."

My dad closed the door, and he was like

"That's right! That's what I'm talking about!

One of y'all get in a fight, y'all all get in a fight."

We all looked out for each other.

That's just the way it was.

Shaquille felt like he had to take care of us.

Listen, y'all are number one.

Never, okay, you do you. No, it's not like that.

Around Christmastime, my dad sits me down.

Said, "Look, dawg, you know

when you get married you'll understand this.

You gotta take care of the ladies.

You always have to protect provide, and love for the ladies.

You know, I know you want the big boom box and all that

but I can't get that right now.

Next payday, I'll get it for you.'

No, that's cool.

'Cause I'm all about family.

And if I come in the house

and see everybody smiling, I don't need nothing.

I'm asleep in the room not asleep, just fake sleep.

So I hear everybody opening up their stuff

and I'm just laying there.

And something hit me in the stomach.

And I look, and it was an autographed

fake autograph... but it was an autographed Dr. J ball.

And then I look on the ground, and there was a little boom box.

It wasn't no big one.

And he's like, "I appreciate you, big man."

"No, I appreciate you, sir."

That was the best Christmas ever.

I think what carries him is the love and the support

that he always got from Phil.

He didn't understand it at first.

He said, "Well, why did I get so many whuppings?"

I said, "Because you needed to be disciplined.

You needed to be taught

and sometimes that was the only way to get your attention."

But he had to realize that it was for his good.

You don't always understand why.

But you appreciate it when you get older

because had it gone a different way

he may not be the man that he is today.

I had three escapes.

After I'd get whupped and get done cryin'

it was like God gave me a certain remote.

You know those old TVs where you had to turn?

When it would go out, you'd have to hit it on the side?

'Cause Good Times is coming on.

Hello.

After Good Times, here comes Sanford and Son.

Son, you worthless.

After Sanford and Son, here comes The Jeffersons.

Every night.

But then the movie that changed my life

called Fish That Saved Pittsburgh.

And the movie's about a young guy.

He had to find Dr. J to get him to play in this game.

And then my father knew the love I had for the movie.

He said, "Son, if you pass the next grade

I'll take you to see Dr. J."

"Him? He's real?"

So I'm busting my ass in school, boom...

Not an A, B guy. Cs.

And then one day, I'm sittin' in the room

and it was just me and him.

He said, "Let's take a ride."

We get in our little Toyota Corolla.

Toyota...

We pull up to Madison Square Garden

and we go way to the top.

And then finally when I look down Dr. J goes baseline.

Dunks. Crowd go cra...

It was like some spirits just entered my body.

And I just immediately turned to my father.

I said, "Sir, I know what I want to be when I grow up."

In his words, "If you listen to me

I'll make you one of the best basketball players ever."

The pituitary gland begins to secrete

the growth hormone.

The boy grows rapidly in height, weight, and strength.

But the rapid growth of his muscles

gives him a great need for activity.

And this may express itself in many ways.

My grandfather was seven foot before we even realized

that that was something kind of special.

And I didn't realize that I would ever have children

that would grow up to be tall and handsome like that.

Shaquille always grew a height above

or maybe a few pounds above his peers.

I seen my mother knock a bus driver out one time.

Five and under can ride free.

And I'm three, four, but I'm a big kid.

And the guy's tellin' my mama

"If he's five, he must be retarded or something."

And my mom hit him with that bing-bing.

Well, I had to, because they'd make it seem

like it was something really wrong with that.

But we learned so much. And we let him know that it's okay.

He didn't want to be different.

He wanted to be the same height the same size as all of his peers.

But he wasn't, so he had to accept that fact, the reality.

That was his life.

You either was gonna get the clown Shaquille

or you was gonna get the bully Shaquille.

There wasn't no middle.

See, being big

a lot of people thought I was a holdback.

But actually, I skipped first grade so which means I was ahead.

You know, you're 11?

How are you 11 and you're 6'4?

You must be stupid or something.

So now I'm like, "What'd you just say?

Three o'clock. Outside in the back.

But because of Good Times, Sanford and Son

Jeffersons, I love to laugh.

I didn't want to fight every day.

Let's laugh. Let's joke around.

Let's make spit wads and throw them at the teacher

and let's have fun.

It was a way of being accepted.

Didn't want to be looked at as the tall kid

who, by the way, was terrible at sports.

Who taught him how to play basketball?

You know, it's hard to say.

Phil taught him a lot about basketball

'cause he began coaching him when he was six years old.

Now, I played basketball too

so I taught him a trick or two.

So when I first started to play

my father was like, agh.

He's not like, Here you go. Like, he... and I'd go like this.

So I can remember one day, he said

"Put your hands on your side and don't move."

And he threw it. I moved.

"What the f... didn't I say don't move?"

So now I've gotta put my hands on my side

and chest pass right to the face.

Boom.

Like, see? I was, like...

The point he was trying to make... stop being scared of the ball.

'Cause even if you get hit, this is how it's gonna feel.

I ain't gonna kill you.

So after that, my hands became impeccable.

Now it's time to put me on the team and coach me.

I had two moves.

Catch it, look left, look right, and dribble, off the glass.

And I can remember a story, we were in Bayonne, New Jersey.

I'm not really that good. I'm just bigger than everybody.

And I can remember this guy storm on the basketball court

grab his son.

This is what he says

"No way that motherfucker's ten years old.

"If that motherfucker is ten years old

he's gonna be one of the best NBA players

to ever fuckin' play the game."

And he walks off. He takes his kid, and they forfeit the game.

And my dad's like, "See? See?

If you listen to me, I'm-a make you the best player ever."

I went from the projects of Newark, New Jersey

to down South, Hinesville, Georgia.

First time I seen a whole bunch of white people

at the same time.

First day of school, "What's up, my nigga?"

"Is that white boy supposed to call me that?

Three o'clock. I'm fucking you up at three o'clock."

I gave him the beatdown of his life.

He starts having a seizure.

There was a guy who saw that, came, put the pen in his mouth

and saved this kid's life.

Now, if he wasn't there, none of this would be.

The cops come talk to my dad

and he spanks me again.

He gives me the, "You know what could have happened

if you would have killed this kid?"

So now the bully side is dead.

Dead. No way.

'Cause it only takes one mistake.

You can have a million dreams. Only takes one mistake.

At that point in my life

I was dreamin' about being a rapper.

I was dreamin' about being an actor.

I was dreamin' about being rich.

I was dreamin' about being a basketball player.

I was just dreamin'.

And then if all that didn't work, guess what.

I'm joining the army.

'Cause you know why? This is a pretty good life.

Always had plans.

I'm never going to the bottom, ever.

'Cause I've seen the bottom. We just came from the bottom.

This guy Philip Harrison brought us somewhere.

It ain't at the top. I ain't going back to the bottom.

Now when I leave Georgia, we going to a place called Germany.

I'm like, "What's that?"

"Get your ass on the plane!"

Cargo plane.

There were rows and rows of military families

going to these different stations in Germany

so we didn't feel so alone.

And I can't say that we weren't ready

but we were a little bit fearful

because we had never been on an airplane before.

And that is a long, long ride.

I'm like, "What the fuck is this?"

Woods.

Wildflecken is on a mountain.

And the base is even smaller.

And now I'm like, "Oh, my God."

And I hate using this word, depression.

It was bad.

But it was a blessing for me

'cause now there's only one thing to do...

play sports.

I go to the base every day.

And there's no kids up there.

I'm only there because my father runs the gym

and I'm not sitting at the house all day.

Get your ass out there and play.

So I play. I'm terrible.

People criticizin' me. I know it.

My father comes in the house one day.

He hits me in the back of the head with a paper.

Says, "College coach comes to Wildflecken

to speak to the troops."

Get your ass up. See if you can get a scholarship.

But before I left, I say "I'm talkin' to a college coach.

Let me sound smart."

So I...

Extremities.

Extrem... extrem... extremities.

All right, now, no punches were thrown there.

Lookit, you see Dale Brown push Groves? And then Gro...

It was really by accident

when I first met him

in a place called Wildflecken

up in the mountains.

I was at the gym where I was putting on the clinic.

And I'm packing my bag, and I get a tap on the shoulder.

And I turn around, and...

here's this giant of a guy, kind of shy.

"Coach Brown," he said

"I'll be trying out for the team."

And he said, "I can't dunk a ball.

"And I run up and down the court about three, four times..."

- "And my lower extremities tire..." - And my lower extremities...

I say, "Lower extremities?"

I didn't say that to him, but I'm thinking

"He's a pretty smart guy."

He said, "Can you show me some exercises to improve it?"

"What I'll do, soldier, when I get back to Baton Rouge

is, I'll send you the weight training program."

I said, "How long you been in service?"

And he goes like this, and he goes, "Coach Brown...

I'm only 13 years old."

I said, "What?"

Being the Rhodes Scholar I am

my next question was, "Where's your dad?"

He said, "He's in the sauna." I said, "I'd like to meet him."

So we're heading to the sauna.

I was just putting my hand on the door

and the door burst open.

And out, coming, sweating profusely

military-green towel around him...

"That's my dad."

This is important.

I handed him my business card, and I said

"Sergeant Harrison," I said, "my name's Dale Brown.

I'm the head basketball coach at LSU."

And almost with disdain, "Excuse me, Coach Brown."

He says, "This is all fine and good, basketball."

But he said, "I think it's time"

he said, "our children get degrees

so they can be generals in the army

instead of a sergeant.

They can be presidents of corporations

instead of janitors.

They can be head coaches instead of assistant coaches

running all over the country looking for players.

If you're interested in my son's intellect

we might talk someday."

Sends me the program.

So I try everything.

And I try out for the team again, but I don't make it.

So I write him a tearful letter.

"Coach, I'm sorry. It didn't work."

- "I did everything..." - "Thank you for the help."

"you told me to do..."

- "I appreciate it." - "...and my high school coach

cut me off the team.

He told me I'm too slow, I'm too clumsy

I have too big of feet.

I will never be a basketball player.

Why don't I be a goalie in soccer?"

So I sat behind my desk, and I thought

now, what kind of a profound statement

am I gonna make to a 13-year-old child?

"Dear Shaquille

I'm so sorry what happened to you.

But I found out in my life when I heard people whispering

He has no father. His mother's on welfare.

He lives in a one-room apartment.

He won't be successful.

If you always sincerely try to do your very best

and only you will know that and you never give up

under any conditions

sooner or later, God'll take care of everything else."

That's why I wanted to go to LSU.

Because before I became this character known as "Shaq"

nobody wanted me.

But Dale Brown looked at me. He chose me.

He put his hand around my shoulders

and saw something in me that I didn't see.

So I was in my office one afternoon

and a tall, skinny kid walked in.

And I knew who it was

but I had never really

introduced myself to him.

And he said, "Coach, I want to try out

for the basketball team."

He said, "If you promise not to cut me

I promise you won't regret it."

And I said, "Okay, we'll see how things go."

Shaquille kind of cut his teeth playing down on the base gym

against 19, 20, 21-year-old soldiers.

His dad, Sergeant Harrison, would take him down, drop him off.

Man, I tell you what, I know at that time

I didn't understand that guy.

He was so hard on Shaquille. He was so...

I think there were times Shaquille was afraid of him

and rightfully so.

I'm not a parent. I don't have kids.

It's not my place to say

whether it was too hard or too soft or...

I think the results speak for themselves.

Let's just say this

Sarge had one speed... 11.

When I first started with him

Shaquille's brain and his body

is still catching up with his size.

And there were times when he would run

and his bones were going faster than his muscles.

And he... It was very painful for him to run.

And sometimes we'd run conditioning drills.

He would cry.

I had something

called Osgood-Schlatter's.

I was growing too fast for my body

and my knees didn't keep up.

And I'd pull him aside and say

"Hey, why don't you sit this one out?"

He said, "No, Coach.

I'll do what everybody else does."

As a sophomore playing on a team

laden with seniors and a couple of juniors

he kind of got picked on a little bit.

We were in a game up in Osterholz, which is way up in northern Germany.

He was open inside

and they were taking shots

rather than kicking it down inside to him.

So I told them at halftime

"If you guys don't start getting the ball inside to him

I'm-a pull both you guys out and you're gonna sit."

I think that one of the things that he appreciates

is that I stood up for him.

Playing high-school ball in Europe

our average road trip was between four and five hours.

When I think about the relationship that I've had with Shaquille

it was all forged on a bus to nowhere

and talking about what young kids hoped for and dreamed for

and how come our moms and dads are so strict on us.

I was fortunate to be able, maybe, to give him

some perspective, you know, during that time in his life

when he was kind of forming his own opinion

about what he thought about the world.

So at the end of the year

we made it to the small-schools tournament.

Unfortunately, Shaquille's father

he was destined to be transferred back to the States.

So we got a call that he was gonna be leaving.

We looked at the calendar.

We're not gonna have him for the Elite Eight.

He played in those last two games.

He played lights out.

We're done, we're in the locker room I'm talking to the team

and Shaquille was leaning over the counter to the sinks.

And I noticed the sinks were wet, and I thought

why is he washing his hands?

We... I mean, I guess we just played a game.

I don't know.

And I quickly realized that it wasn't water.

He was crying.

And I knew in that moment

how difficult it was gonna be...

I knew how difficult it was gonna be for him to leave us.

And he turned to me, and he hugged me.

And he said, "Coach, I love you."

And I said, "I love you too, big guy."

That's the last time I saw him

until he was playing for Coach Brown.

After my sophomore year, we leave.

Back in Jersey, ain't seen family.

What's happening? Boom, boom. Lovin' and huggin'.

We got the moving thing on top of the car.

I'm like, "Yo, man, where we going?"

"Shut your ass up and get in the car."

And we get in the car.

And we drivin' and we drivin'.

Now I'm starting to see stuff I ain't seen in a while... cows.

I'm like...

And then I see, "Welcome to Texas."

I'm like, "Texas?

Cowboys?"

We moved to San Antonio, Texas.

We arrive at the school.

And I'm talking to the principal

and I see this little kid walking down the hall

and he comes in, and, "This is Joe Cavallaro.

He's gonna show you around."

I see Sergeant Harrison

and Shaquille standing there.

Obviously a basketball player

so about time we get some good talent for the basketball team.

He showed me around.

And, "What about the basketball team?"

"We ain't really that good."

"But I want to meet some of the players."

Our graduating class in 1989 was 79 people.

You couldn't go to the school unless your parents

were in the military

or if your parents worked at that school.

So because there's not a lot of kids

I make the team. I'm a starter.

The high school years was something very special

because we were just coming from Germany.

And I remember the coach said that

"I don't know if he can walk and chew gum at the same time."

We told him, "You may have to just show them.

Don't even tell them how good you know you are."

Our team became immediately dominant his junior year.

He began to get exposure all around the state of Texas.

My first article was

"Cole's O'Neal 'best in the U.S.'"

So 35-1, having a good year.

Semifinals going into the finals.

Down by one.

Shaquille O'Neal gets fouled, goes to the line, misses.

We got beat in the playoffs

because he missed free throws.

That stuck with him and gave him the motivation

to do what he did his senior year, which was absolutely amazing.

All right, Shaquille!

Senior in high school, Magic Johnson was my guy.

So I'm smooth with the ball.

Look-away pass.

I cross this dude up at half-court, ooh, ooh.

I go to give a nasty finger roll, and I miss.

All of a sudden, I see this big black dude

walking on the court in his military fatigues.

It's my father, the Sarge.

He said, "Call a time-out."

"Yes, sir."

He said, "What you doing?"

"Man, I'm just workin' on my Magic"...

"Fuck that."

"Be Shaquille O'Neal."

"Dunk it every fucking time."

And the boys knew what happened.

They knew the Sarge done touched me up.

And I looked at him, and he was like "Give me the goddamn ball."

That's all you had to say, bro.

When I dunked, I was so fuckin' mad

I wanted to break the rim off for him.

"Oh, this is what you want me to do?"

"This good enough for you, Sarge?"

Everybody's scared. Terrified.

I'm-a kill your ass out here.

Monster.

That's the monster shit, bro.

He's seven feet tall

one of the top five high school players

in the country, and he just turned 17.

Shaquille O'Neal, averaging 47 points a game

in the playoffs.

He started going up against these kids

and just doing what he wanted to.

We beat a team 121-35.

By the end of the game, the rims were like this...

Sergeant Harrison saw it before anybody.

So I'm in the house one day

and my father comes in and hits me with a paper again.

"Look at this motherfucker."

The contact with the left hand.

There was a guy named Jon Koncak.

Takes it to the basket and rattles it home.

He signed 15 for three.

"Get your shit. We gonna watch him play."

Toyota...

And I'm watching this guy play, and I'm like

"Yo, if he gettin' 15, I can get eight."

So now I got to stay focused. Now I'm close.

This article right here that says

"Cole's O'Neal 'best in the U.S.'" says that I'm close.

In today's classic, Shaquille O'Neal

a 6'11" giant from San Antonio

will lead the West against the East.

It's the 12th Annual McDonald's All-American Game.

So growing up in my high school I loved Dick Vitale.

This is excitement. This is absolutely bedlam.

Loved him.

And I get to the McDonald's game

and I was like, "Hello, Mr. Vitale."

And Mr. Vitale says, "And you are?"

I said, "My name's Shaquille O'Neal."

"Oh, you the big guy from Texas

that played against those small kids."

Oh, my God.

Now I'm fuckin' pissed.

My mom always used to say

and it didn't make sense till that day

"Baby, make 'em remember your name."

I already know what I'm-a do.

First time I touch the ball, I'm taking it coast-to-coast.

So I blocked Conrad McRae's shot.

There's Shaquille with another rejection.

Dribble...

take off on the free throw line.

Dunk it. Boom.

And then Dick Vitale screamed, "Oh, my God!"

- And I'm looking like, "Oh." - I can't believe it!

That's a seven-footer! Are you serious?

I'll tell you one thing, this guy can play.

Shaquille O'Neal will be a star at LSU.

Now when I go to Baton Rouge

it's back to the bottom, brother.

They got Chris Jackson and Stanley Roberts.

We don't know who you are.

I remember him asking

who would start and all that business.

And I told him right up front, but I said

"Shaquille, I have never told a player he would start.

That has to occur on the court.

You know, I go from averaging 37 points to six points.

So my whole freshman year, I'm playing the game

and I'm turning it over, I'm fumbling.

It's back to, "You can't play."

But, you know, my father always told me

"If you stay consistent at something

whatever you're looking to accomplish, it will happen."

I don't think I've ever seen a player consistently

get better and better and better and better.

There was no question

not one doubt in my mind, he was gonna be a superstar.

Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, aka Chris Jackson

doesn't know this, but I used to follow him.

I knew he used to work out at night

but nobody was allowed to go in there.

So I broke in there.

And he was talking to himself. Shoot.

And it seemed like he wasn't missing.

So I'm like, "Okay, if this what he's doing

to be great, I'm-a do it."

Oh, Patrick, you want to try to guard Shaquille?

Oh, Shaquille like, and I would...

I was trying to imagine that.

So guess what happened my sophomore year.

Mr. Stanley Roberts flunks out.

Here's my shot.

And I come in, first time I got the ball, and dunked it.

I'm like...

Flips it to O'Neal and slams it in.

Shaquille, and then I'm like...

I'd say Shaq took it to the rack.

Like, man, this is what I've been dreaming about all my life.

7'1", nearly 300 pounds

yet only weeks beyond his 19th birthday

LSU sophomore Shaquille O'Neal is already being heralded

as one of the top centers in the universe.

My sophomore year, I led the conference in everything.

And I always knew from a youngster

take advantage of opportunities.

Great steal. O'Neal, slam dunk! Oh, my goodness!

Sophomore year, I wanted to go pro.

My father said, "We've been broke 17 years of your life.

We can be broke for 18."

When he first went to school, everything was

go to school, get education.

Now that Shaquille's

a fairly good basketball player

everybody's now saying

"Dump school and go to the NBA."

He probably knew, too, that he was that good.

And I remember sitting him down

and said, "It's gonna be different from now on."

Why? I don't understand that.

'Cause of the money? Money isn't everything.

'Cause of the publicity? That's not everything.

I know it's gonna be an argument 'cause he's like, "Nope.

You ain't doing shit until you get a degree.

I don't give a shit what you say.

I don't care how much money they're offering you.

You ain't doing nothing."

If he goes to the NBA and can't do what they expect him to do

where's he gonna be at?

I go... I said, "I want to go pro."

He's going, "Motherfucker...

Get out of my face!"

So my mom said, "Come with me, baby."

And my mom said, "Balance this checkbook."

I didn't know what the fuck I was doing.

Mom said, "You not ready, baby."

He decided that he wanted to go back to school

for at least another year or so.

This conversation's over. Yes, ma'am.

At that time, I made it my point just to help him.

If he needed me, I was there.

He had that dream, I'm gonna be professional one day.

We would not pay bills and get in the car on a Friday

and drive to Louisiana just to spend the weekend with him

so that we could be with him and keep him encouraged.

"You a big man. You stand tall.

You don't let anybody move you."

And it's a 10-point lead.

One-handed catch by Shaquille.

Got his own rebound. And that'll count.

And a foul as O'Neal will step to the free throw line.

People had to compete against me because of my size.

They felt they had to get super-physical.

Well, guess what. I got ass-whuppings every day.

You're not hurting me. It's just making me more angry.

And a foul.

How good is that?

Also showed me a sign of respect.

"I can't stop you, man. I'm sorry. I fouled him."

You think this big guy is good?

Watch this. He's gonna get hammered right here

get fouled, still get it up with his strength, get it in

and count it.

I had called the SCC numerous times and told them

"The referees have to stop these flagrant fouls."

- Tapped in... - They can't stop him

so they foul him, knowing he's a poor free-throw shooter.

Shaquille's gonna be seriously hurt.

It could cost him his career.

They're gonna get shots.

O'Neal is fouled by Groves as he made a strong move to the basket.

Strong being a bit of an understatement in that case.

When we go to the SCC tournament

third time this happened by this player from Tennessee.

Won four in a row, lost a heartbreaking...

Look out.

Groves and O'Neal square off.

And Dale Brown is pushing Groves!

And I see Shaquille's knee going out and a fight breaking out

so I go out on the court

and get in a confrontation with the guy doing it.

That's why I love that man.

He was right there next to me.

The reason why I swung on Carlus Groves

is because in my mind

this dude's trying to mess my money up.

And I wanted to send a message to anybody

that try to mess my money up, this is what's gonna happen to you.

Sadly as I hate to say this

I'm recommending to Shaquille's parents

that he turns NBA.

I do not want to see this young man blatantly fouled and hurt

and then, because of my selfishness to win

he doesn't play pro ball.

If he's going to get hurt

and people are going to intentionally foul him

for the 18th time

he needs to go get money to get hurt.

He's no ordinary 19-year-old.

Standing 7'1" and weighing in at 285 pounds

his amazing speed and spectacular skills

have made him, without doubt, the most sought-after

collegiate basketball player in the nation.

Junior year. Dominated.

Dick Vitale's

still screaming my name.

Shaquille O'Neal!

Go home, same argument.

But it's the first time I stand up to him.

"Man, fuck that.

They fuckin' me up in school. I'm going."

And it was the first time he looked back at me and was like...

he realized that he created a man.

And then Mom says, "You know what I'm gonna ask you to do.

Pull it out."

My shit was neat.

Debits, credits, boom-boom, bada-bam, bada-bing.

And she said, "Okay, you ready."

When you have a dream come alive

it's just a blessing instead of hard work.

He told me I was never gonna have to worry.

"You won't have to worry about anything.

You gonna be able to get anything that you want."

And I said, "Okay, okay. That's fine."

It's good. It's good for all of us.

Good afternoon. The mic's on?

Good afternoon. Thank you all for coming.

About to make my statement.

I, Shaquille O'Neal, after careful deliberation

have decided to forgo my senior year of eligibility

at LSU.

I'm not making this decision out of anger or frustration.

I feel that in my heart, it's time for a change

and it's time for me to move on.

I've truly enjoyed every aspect of my college years

as a basketball player and as a student.

I think the experience was very much needed.

But now I am ready to take what I've learned

on with me to the NBA.

And I'd like to thank you people for coming

and thank you for the awards

and, you know, thank you for everything.

And thank you for listening. Peace.

Any questions?

Always been our dream to see him play in the NBA.

My dream, you know.

Because I wanted to play, and I couldn't play in it.

Now my son is gonna play in it.

It makes me feel a whole lot better

knowing that my son is able to go farther than what I went you know?

That's the main... that's what it's all about

you know what I mean? Your children going farther

that what you went and doing better than what you're gonna be doing.

All right. See you later, guy.

I was elated for the family because, you know, a superstar

and they drive up in this old van.

So I knew it was a pivotal thing financially.

He was gonna help take care of the family.

Well, Shaquille, this is it, bro.

We're going to work. Time to go to work, huh?

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen

and welcome to the 1992 NBA Draft.

Draft night was special.

My grandmother was there. My mother was there.

Brother, sisters, uncles, friends.

And then when they called my name, it was like...

With the first pick in the 1992 NBA Draft

the Orlando Magic selects Shaquille O'Neal

from Louisiana State University.

Who, me?

I wanted to cry inside, but being raised by the Sarge

you're not allowed to be emotional. You're not allowed to be soft.

But in my mind, "I'm here.

I'm here.

All the ass-whuppings...

all the doubters...

I'm here."

Well, along with Jack Givens

this is Chip Caray welcoming you tonight

the debut of perhaps the most heralded rookie

in the NBA in quite some time, number 32, Shaquille O'Neal.

The Magic and Miami Heat, archrivals battling it out.

And the opening tap goes to Miami.

And the Shaquille O'Neal era has begun in the NBA.

So now you're in the NBA.

All the guys you used to see and then dream about

and look at and drool over

they're here now.

So I'm like, "You ain't where Hakeem at yet."

You ain't where David Robinson at.

Shaquille O'Neal is not used to this.

And you ain't where Ewing at.

Ewing with the spin.

Ewing... yes!

I wanted to be that guy.

I wanted what Magic had.

I wanted what Dr. J had.

I wanted what Michael Jordan had.

Michael had all of that. And I wanted that.

How does he do it?

Michael Jordan. Ferocity.

Wanted to be the best ever.

When he gets fouled hard, he's not shakin' nobody's hand.

Like, I fouled him one time and went to pick him up.

He said, "Don't do that.

Don't ever help nobody up. Good foul."

I was like, "Damn."

And look at that pass. Oh, they stole it! Stolen by Scott.

Well, obviously, Shaq came in with

all the hype.

He didn't win a championship.

He never made that miraculous Final Four run.

But his dominance...

He would shoot 72% from the floor

and people was like

"Well, he doesn't have a free throw"

or, "He doesn't shoot threes."

Why would you?

Let the locomotive keep coming down the track.

Until they figure out a way to stop it, keep going.

And I think that's the presence

Shaq brought into the NBA as a rookie.

So when you lookin' at a god on TV

but then when you see him in real life

and you realize he's not a god

now that so-called "god" is in trouble.

Shaq for two over Olajuwon.

Sets up O'Neal. Oh, my.

And then lets the crowd know, "I'm here."

The first time Patrick Ewing shot a fadeaway jump shot

and I'm right there.

Ewing.

Ooh, I think I can block that.

So now next time, should get a little closer

when he get on that fadeaway.

My father said, "You show a person respect

by showing them none.

I don't give a damn that's Patrick Ewing.

You Shaquille O'Neal."

Way of operating offensively.

Ewing rejected by O'Neal.

Yes, sir.

Boy, that... When does that happen to Patrick Ewing?

Maybe... I don't remember.

Your ass is in trouble.

We're gonna just stand up and throw to the commercial.

Standing up.

So does your mic...

I don't think your mic does that... Stretches that far.

Here, hold on.

Okay.

We'll be back in a moment. But first...

- I told you what to say. - Oh, I forgot.

Come here.

Yeah. Sorry.

- Go ahead. - This is Today on NBC.

One of my superpowers is, I can stop time.

And what I mean by that is

I can foresee stuff before it happens.

So I had a professor, Tommy Karam.

He pulled me to the side and said

"Why you don't never want to speak up in the class?"

"'Cause when I get nervous, I stutter."

Profess-professional athlete.

So then we used to set up fake interviews.

He used to come in with a little VHS camera

ask me a question and then we'd stop and go over it.

So now I'm practicing at home by myself.

Click. Watch.

Don't come in like you're super-intelligent

'cause you're not.

Move that out the way.

Funny.

Let them know you're cool.

Be confident. Be humble.

All right. Play.

And then he said the words I needed to hear.

He said, "When you talkin' to that

that's just more money in your pocket."

Stop.

I think I'm... Orlando...

S-H-A...

Mickey Mouse.

Q-I-E...

Let me see that hat.

S-H-A-Q-I-E

M-O-U-S-E

You gotta do interviews.

People are gonna love you.

You gonna make so much money on the side.

I played all sports. I played soccer.

- Were you good at soccer? - I used to kick people. Yeah.

I'm not sure that's the point of the game.

Ah, well.

First of all, is it true that you're the only rookie

that was ever named Player of the Week

- in the first week? - I had a pretty good week.

Coming into the NBA, I didn't want to be a boring big man.

Big guys don't sell. I'm not in that category.

I'm over here in this category.

So I call Arsenio, and I say, "Hey, man.

I want to be on your show, but I want to be different."

"What do you mean, brother?"

I say, "At the end of the show

can I rap with my favorite rap group?"

Making his TV debut.

Performing "What's Up Doc?" with his friends

who happen to be the fastest-rising rap group

on the charts, Shaquille O'Neal and Fu-Schnickens.

I didn't even know Fu-Shnickens at the time.

Yeah, can we rock?

Yeah, what's up, Doc?

We practiced the song once or twice

and then when the show came, I killed it.

Yo, I'm the hooper, hyper Protected by a viper

When I'm out there hoopin', Yo, you better decipher...

They went on and performed.

Next thing you know, they did a music video

"What's Up, Doc?"

I get a call from Barry Weiss, the CEO of Jive Records.

He says, "I want to sign Shaq to a record deal."

Said, "Man, I ain't no rapper." "Ten million."

"What?"

What a rebound.

He has gone after it with a vengeance.

No-look feed, Dennis Scott.

O'Neal sliding...

Goes to Reed. Driving shot.

Blocked by O'Neal out of bounds.

That's the kind of rebound the Magic want from O'Neal.

For Shaquille.

I would like to present to Shaquille O'Neal

the Most Valuable Rookie of the Year award.

Another trophy for me

and I hope I can get an NBA Championship trophy

to go along with it.

When I retire and have children

I can tell my son, "Son, I was bad."

So my agent knew a lot of people.

He says, "They want you to play in this movie."

"I don't care if the movie's terrible or not.

I'm not turning it down."

Before we start shooting, I gotta work out.

So we're running a play, and they're stealing clips.

And then this Penny guy is...

that dude dropped me off nice.

And to Hardaway for the jam.

To me, I had a game plan.

Because what I wanted him to know was that

if I got drafted by the Magic

that I would be giving him the ball

and putting him in position to be the best that he could be.

So everything that I did was catered towards making Shaq happy.

I asked him one day, I said, "How long you been an actor?"

He said, "No, no. I'm from... I'm Penny Hardaway.

I went to Memphis State and I put my name in the draft."

"You did what?"

I can remember Dennis Scott, my best friend on the team

telling me, "Man, at some point, you gonna have to go upstairs

and it's gonna have to get ugly, big dog.

This your team."

John Gabriel.

I called him on the phone and said

"Hey, man, You heard of Penny Hardaway?"

"Oh, yeah, I heard of him. He's really good.

But we probably want to go with Chris Webber."

"Man, I don't need no power forward that likes to shoot the ball.

I need somebody that's gonna give me the damn ball.

If you don't pick the Penny guy, brother

I think we gonna have some problems at...

you know, when my deal is up."

With the first pick

in the 1993 NBA Draft

- the Orlando Magic... - Orlando Magic...

- select Chris Webber. - select Chris Webber.

I tear my back house up.

Break the glass.

You tellin' me I'm the leader.

And then when I come to you with something and you don't...

I mean, I'm still a pawn.

Callin' him, pissed off.

And then in the middle of the draft...

Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to report a trade.

Orlando has traded the draft rights to Chris Webber to Golden State

for the draft rights to Anfernee Hardaway.

Chris Webber to Golden State for Penny Hardaway.

Now I'm like...

When the Magic started, the Nick Anderson

you know, the Scott Skiles, it was fun.

It was, "Hey, the Magic's in town."

But when Shaq came

it was like they were a real professional team now.

Then draft night, I look over to Nick Anderson.

I said, "This is Shaq and Penny's team now."

And everything just took off.

First year with Penny was phenomenal.

He was the true definition of a point guard.

True definition of a point guard

is one that makes players around them better.

Hardaway feeds O'Neal.

He was always looking for me first.

Penny Hardaway fumbles...

He's looking for me so much, I don't have to tell him

"Yo, man, I'm tired right now. You shoot."

Normally got there.

Skiles hit Hardaway, is twisted but Shaq hammers it in.

We didn't have no problems.

No problems, no arguments, no fights.

And they said that we were the youngsters of the future.

The wave of the future...

The freight train

we knew we were gettin' that every night.

We knew Shaq was gonna play hard.

And Penny was so gifted, you just couldn't guard him

at 6'8" as a point guard.

Everywhere we went

from the time Shaq and Penny came together

was a party.

Shaq, may I please have an autograph, please?

That's when we became a household name.

Another Dr. Lucille O'Neal quote

"Before you succeed you must first learn to fail."

We got swept by the Pacers 'cause we didn't know how to win yet.

Wasn't good enough.

We're a young team. They a veteran team.

They know all the tricks, and we wasn't ready yet.

Third year, we got Horace Grant.

One last time, Horace Grant.

We were confident.

Penny was an All-Star. I was an All-Star.

Everything was flowin' great.

And then you go up against the great Michael Jordan.

It came in a two-word statement, quote-unquote, "I'm back."

That was really all Jordan needed to say

as his 17-month retirement came to an end.

The young student must kill the master

to become the master.

Mike is the man.

He left, he comes back.

I don't care if it's Michael on the court.

I knew for us to get over the hump

we were gonna have to go through the Bulls

the team that won three championships in a row.

But we knew the competitive nature of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen.

We were the young guns.

We weren't really caring about any of that.

We just knew that we had to go ball.

Shaquille O'Neal over Michael.

That's another three for Anfernee Hardaway.

And that's what we did.

- And there's Shaq. - Shaquille.

Backs him all the way

and goes up and dunks the ball.

Had some problems at the end of the year.

That's Hardaway with the reverse.

Jordan hard to the hoop.

The reverse from Michael!

Shaquille down low.

Ran the double team. Hardaway, hammer time.

Pippen driving, stripped by O'Neal.

O'Neal dunks the ball.

It's all over. And the Bulls' season comes to an end

here at the United Center, and the Orlando Magic...

It was like winning the respect battle.

It was winning the barbershop news.

And that was the bragging rights.

For that weekend, that day, we kicked the Bulls' butt.

Now, just think about it. You just beat Michael Jordan.

Who else is left?

Ain't nobody else left in the league.

We weren't worried about playing

the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference final.

The crowd's standing and cheering

and they may not sit down till Wednesday.

We have about six, seven days off. We partyin'.

Me and D Scott, we in Atlanta at Magic City.

We did a rap song.

Just a little bit of magic tonight

B Shaw, myself.

Everything's gonna be all right

Then Penny came by, but Penny didn't really rap.

He was just there.

We were the Showtime of the South.

And we wanted to say, "Hey, we know we're good."

So game one of the Finals

we're rollin'.

I'm hittin' threes.

Shaq's dunkin'. Penny's doing his thing.

We was up the whole game.

And, like, they come back and they go crazy.

And Nick Anderson, he has the chance to make two free throws.

He misses, gets his own rebound, gets fouled again.

I'm like, "Bro, just hit these two free throws

so we can get this little lead, get a stop

we gonna win the first game."

Well, the three to make four rule, that's...

And then Nick misses those free throws.

And he misses four straight. The Rockets...

We lose our mojo.

Tide changes. Hakeem gets hot. Drexler's doing his thing.

And then we lost game one.

The Houston Rockets have stunned the Orlando Magic.

Now we're worried.

The problem with the finals is

I was going up against one of my idols

and I showed him too much respect.

Now we come into game two, and they blow us out.

We go to game three in Houston, and we lose.

We go to game four...

They blow us out.

The Houston Rockets have swept the Orlando Magic.

We were still young and naive.

Did we say all the right things in practice?

Did we do all the right things in practice?

Did we come out and play hard?

We did! We tried.

That is...

that is my saddest moment...

to be honest with you.

Because we never...

got it back.

I'm walking down the street in Chicago.

This lady comes up to me and says

"You shouldn't do that to your father.

You should give him a second chance."

I'm like, "What are you talking about?"

Can you imagine losing contact with your son

and being able to hear about him only through the press?

And then I get home. I called my mom.

I said, "Mommy, look, did Daddy do something?"

And she's... "No.

But Joe Toney done went on the Ricki Lake Show."

I'm like, "What? Who?"

Joe Toney is Shaquille O'Neal's birth father

and hasn't spoken to him in over a decade.

He says no matter how hard he has tried to contact Shaquille

his requests to see his son

have been turned down.

Basically, when Shaquille was born

I got in trouble.

I was involved with drugs.

And when he was six months old,

I got locked up.

I went to prison for five years.

When I came back from prison

she had married this gentleman in the service

and they moved to Germany.

They gave me a bogus address

at which to get in touch with them which didn't work.

But like I said, I just want to get the message.

I just want a few minutes of his time.

I can almost believe that he heard about Shaquille

from the time he was becoming national news.

And it probably was burning in him, he missed everything.

But Shaquille didn't care.

He wrote a song about Phil.

He said, "He took me from a boy to a man.

And Phil is my father

'cause my biological didn't bother."

"Oh, I just want to see him.

I want to do this. I want to do that."

But in my mind, it's...

"When I was trying to get some shoes, where were you?"

My mom always told me, "Hey, beware.

Once you get this money, everybody comin'."

And he was the first one.

That year, Penny redid his contract.

He sat out a couple games.

Wanted more money than me, which is fine.

'Cause one thing I understood was marketing and business.

You pay him 30, you gotta pay me 60.

It was never in the negotiations

where I was saying, "I need to make more

than anybody on the team, Shaq or anyone."

I just wanted my worth.

I create jealousies for myself.

If you have something, internally, I say I want it.

And then I just gotta go get it.

And then with his tenth three-pointer a new NBA record...

I knew that Shaq

has to get the first shot.

If you didn't understand that

about him, then that's where you were gonna have problems.

Being the biggest guy in the room

he wants the biggest and the most of everything.

That's for his own ego.

Our team was young, pretty immature.

I think that that slowly started to affect

the camaraderie, or lack of it.

That's the first part of destroying a franchise

is destroying a team

because your two best players need to be on the same page.

Like, he was upset that I was getting more money

or the same amount of money or that he deserved more.

But I felt like he was the man

and that they were gonna do for him what needed to be done.

We came back next year. We're rollin'.

But it wasn't that same feeling.

Is Shaq stayin' now? Is Shaq leavin'?

Is he gettin' a contract?

Everything changed.

A look at the starting lineups.

The Magic will start without Shaquille O'Neal.

Well, in 1996, my grandmother died.

After the funeral, I just needed a couple days

to just relax.

But they callin' me, "We're playin' the Bulls. Come..."

Like, "No, I'm not comin'.

That's more important to them than my family.

A damn game."

Here comes Shaquille O'Neal.

With a sense of drama

Shaquille O'Neal just arrived at the arena.

He is hustling back to the Orlando locker room

and, obviously, will try to get himself into uniform

and will be appearing on the bench.

So I come in the middle. We lose.

And I do something I wasn't supposed to do.

I go upstairs and say

"We startin' off at 115."

They, whoever they may be, did a poll.

"Is Shaq worth 115?"

And the town said no.

Well, I just think if Shaq is as good as he thinks he is

why didn't he ever have 25, 30 rebounds in a game?

Why didn't he step up in the fourth quarter?

- You know, he was... - Shaquille O'Neal

who's already a millionaire and has a mansion

how much more does he need?

How dare you ask the community should he be paid that much?

You know better.

Or maybe you don't.

I just think that the man didn't want to play

for the Magic anymore

because he wasn't the main man anymore because we got Penny.

It reminded me of Snoop Dogg at the Source Awards.

The East Coast don't love Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg?

Orlando Magic, y'all don't love Shaquille O'Neal?

- Y'all don't love us? - Y'all don't love me?

Shaq wanted to stay with the Orlando Magic.

He was a small-town guy.

Instead of offering

the most dominant player in basketball a max deal

they started playing around trying to negotiate with him.

It really made him feel disrespected.

There's no loyalty in any game.

So get a call from my guy.

He said, "They offered you 80 for four.

I'm like, "That's cool. I could take that."

Basketball gods or something said, "Don't do it."

How much he get?

Congratulations, Zo.

Man, I'm just, you know, hoping to get

a pretty good deal.

The Miami Heat signed Juwan for 110

and Alonzo for 105.

And I'm like, "I done killed both of them

their whole career."

Oh, what a dunk!

If a top-of-the-line BMW costs 110

what does a top-of-the-line Mercedes cost?

Much more.

So then we're in the Olympics. We're trainin'.

Uncle Jerome and I were out...

at a gentleman's club, I might add.

I remember that he got a call

from his agent at the time

that we had to meet him.

It was, like, early in the morning.

When we get there

his agent is there

and Mr. West is there.

And then it was like

"Jerry, tell him."

And Jerry says, "We got some good news

and I got some bad news."

And I said, "What's the bad news?"

He said, "I can't get you that 115."

I said, "What's the good news?"

"I can get you to 120."

I was like...

As a basketball player, I cried.

Shaq on the floor makes life easier

because he's that dominant.

I didn't know that he was leaving Orlando

until I saw the actual press conference

with him holding a Laker jersey with Jerry West.

Didn't communicate at all.

Not one time did we call each other

and talk to each other and talk it out.

Penny didn't even know.

But all I really wanted was for Penny to go up

to the Orlando and say, "Pay Shaq.

Shaq stuck up for me.

Now I'm stickin' up for him. Pay him."

But he never did that.

So in my mind, I was like, "Okay, you want to be the man?

There you go."

In case you haven't figured it out yet

I've signed with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Keep in mind the word "change."

To me, change is for the good.

And right when I'm signin', Jerry West says to me

"In a couple years, you're gonna be

one of the best basketball players ever to play the game."

Pause. I was like, "You know what?

You might be right."