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After Almost Murdering a Boy, Shaquille O’Neal Was Given a Tour of the Jail at Age 13: “If This Kid Had Passed Away, This Is Where You Would Have Been”

Published 09/18/2022, 11:00 AM EDT

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NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal is one of the funniest basketball players ever. He was not just a great player he was also a great teammate. Shaq always tried to lighten the mood of the team with his funny antics during practice sessions. Some of the dressing room stories his teammates have revealed about him over the years are pure comedy. He is also one of the nicest and kindest guys around and never forgets to give back to the community. We have seen many random acts of kindness from the former MVP.

However, Shaq has not always been this nice guy we know. The Los Angeles Lakers legend recently opened up about the time when he was a bully who almost killed someone. O’Neal recently went on a tour of Australia where he made appearances for various shows and podcasts. He also made some DJ appearances during his time there.

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And during an appearance for the “Kelly Partners”, Shaq talked about his fight. O’Neal admitted that he became a bully so that people do not make fun of him and criticize him.

Shaquille O’Neal was a bully

Shaquille O’Neal said, “So one time I had an incident and I almost took this boy’s life. And from that day on, I was like 12 or 13 years old, I had to change my life.”

“Because my father was well known and the kid didn’t pass away, the guard took me on a tour to the jail and said, ‘If this kid had passed away, this is where you would have been,'” he added.

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A very scary incident indeed. At the beginning of the sit-down, Shaq talked about the three important values his father Philip Harrison taught him. One of the three values is ‘Respect’, respecting others and himself. As per reports, Shaq has a net worth of $400 million. O’Neal admitted that when it is all said and done, he doesn’t want to be remembered for his wealth, business, or career, but that he was nice. He said that he wanted people to remember him as a nice person.

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Growing up, Shaq’s biological father was not around. And his stepfather became the father figure. Over the years, O’Neal has shared many teachings of his father. During high school, Shaq was the most dominant player. He lost just one game in his two years of high school. And one time he got complacent and missed a finger roll. His father called a time-out and hit the young O’Neal in front of everyone.

However, Shaq admitted that this embarrassing moment helped him become even more dominant as he started throwing down the ball hard every time he had the opportunity.

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Written by:

Bagavathi Eswaran

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Bagavathi Eswaran is an NBA writer at EssentiallySports. He has been playing the game of basketball for more than 20 years now and has also been following the NBA for more than 10 years. After not being able to go pro, this former college player decided to join the IT industry.
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