“He Was a White Guy, He Loved Bird, I Loved Magic”: Shaquille O’Neal Makes Intriguing Admissions on His Formative Years

Published 02/21/2022, 7:30 PM EST

Shaquille O’Neal was one of the most dominant players of his time. He won four NBA championships in his career spanning 19 years.

Due to his immense contributions to the league for almost two decades, Shaq was selected by the NBA among the top 75 players. However, Shaq also gave an emotional speech during the 75th-anniversary ceremony and gave intriguing details about his career.

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Shaq was part of the elite group of current and former NBA stars that were acknowledged by the NBA during the All-star game. He shared the podium with 74 other NBA greats during the half-time break on Sunday.

However, Shaq got emotional during the NBA on TNT show and gave a four-minute-long speech. He talked about his career and the hardships he faced. Shaq also acknowledged everyone who supported him throughout his life.

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Shaquille O’Neal thanks his inspirations and acknowledges their support in his career

O’Neal appeared on the NBA on TNT show during the All-Star weekend. During the show, he gave a strong and emotional speech about his NBA career. He thanked everyone who supported him throughout.

“I got in trouble in high school for trying to be like Dr. J. and my father said, ‘No, I need you to be a big man,” Shaq said.

“So here comes another big man, and he’s 6-foot-9, flashy, hip-hop and has style: Magic Johnson. I wanted to be like Magic Johnson. I want to thank another guy: Mitch Riles. We played in Germany together [as kids] and he was a white guy; he loved [Larry] Bird, I loved Magic, and we used to have seven-game series every day. We used to fight.”

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Must watch: Shaq’s emotional 4-minute speech on @NBAonTNT pic.twitter.com/RwfynnERLa
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) February 21, 2022

Not just Magic Johnson and Mitch Riles, Shaq also acknowledge Floyd McMerchy, Dale Brown, David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley, Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, among others. He also thanked his parents and Kobe Bryant for making him what he is today.

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It was definitely one of the best moments from the All-Star break. Shaq got emotional as he got into the top 75 list after making it into the top 50 during his early career.

WATCH: NBA Legend Gets Violent and Throws a Punch While Coaching a Heated College Basketball Game

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Abhishek is an NBA writer at EssentiallySports with over two years of journalistic experience with Chase Your Sport and Dribl. A Football Management graduate, he has previously interned in the Indian Super League, I-League and the AFC Champions League. In addition to being a Michael Jordan fan, Abhishek is an ardent Steph Curry and Warriors guy, and believes they have a few more championships in store before the former retires.

“He Was a White Guy, He Loved Bird, I Loved Magic”: Shaquille O’Neal Makes Intriguing Admissions on His Formative Years

Shaquille O’Neal thanks his inspirations and acknowledges their support in his career

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