Los Angeles Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal is one of the best centers in the history of the NBA. On the court, the seven-foot giant was formidable and led his team to a three-peat. The super successful NBA veteran has shared in the past about how he let his fame get to him, and the one person who grounded him at the lowest point of his life was his mother, Lucille O’Neal. 

The four-time NBA champion has had a rough journey to get where he is today, and while he may not have had the greatest bank balance growing up, a new piece of information shows how the smallest things can mean much more than a million dollars. 

Shaquille O’Neal opens up about his best Mother’s Day present

A young Shaq had to see his single mother struggle financially to raise him and his siblings. Her upbringing is the reason he has achieved everything he has today. Even though she was strict in raising him, Shaq truly has been and is a ‘mama’s boy’.

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In a recent article featured on The Athletic, Shaq shared the most treasured gift he gave his mother over the years. While he has bestowed his mother Lucille will multiple luxury items, cars, a six-figure salary retirement, and even a million-dollar home, a certain $100 dollar item took the best gift trophy.

The NBA superstar revealed on Mother’s Day, when asked what his greatest gift to mother Lucille was, “She would say the cutting board I got her years and years ago with the inscription ‘Lu’s Kitchen'”.

He added, “It was one of the first Mother’s Day gifts I ever got her. Over the years, though, I have been fortunate to get her bigger gifts.”

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Love-filled memories over money for the O’Neals

Lucille O’Neal is undoubtedly the most influential person is the Big Diesel’s life. She herself has revealed in the past why the small piece of engraved wood meant so much more to her than all the luxurious gifts her son gave her over the years.

In a past interview, she revealed that “The reason I love it is because when we get in the kitchen together and I cook fried chicken and macaroni and cheese, that cutting board always comes to my mind.”

The story behind the small cutting board does stand to prove that only money can not buy happiness, rather it is the small, thoughtful gestures that count and connect us to each other.

What do you think about Shaq’s sweeter side?

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