Shaquille O’Neal has the utmost respect and love for his late stepfather, Philip Harrison. Philip was a tough taskmaster. His word was bible, and Shaq had to simply follow his instructions. This was seen during Shaq’s second year at LSU when he told his father that he wanted to join the big league. His father opposed this and said, “We’ve been broke for 17 years of your life, we can be broke for 18″. The 15-time All-Star quietly listened to his father. However, there came a time when Shaq stood up for himself by grabbing his father and asking him to calm down.

In an interview with Esquire magazine, Shaquille O’Neal was asked if there was a time in his life when he went against his father and stood up for himself. Shaq recalled that he was 18 years old when he first stood up to his father. It was during the contract negotiations with the sports company, Reebok.

Shaquille O’Neal on standing up to his father

Reebok had offered Shaquille O’Neal a hefty deal. One of the representatives advised the four-time NBA Champion to blindly sign the deal. While this transpired, Shaq’s father Philip Harrison stood up and yelled, “M****f*****, you think we stupid?” As per the Big Aristotle, his father was not aware of how contracts are negotiated and signed.

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Following this, Shaq recalled, “I had to grab my father. Like, “Aye man, you can’t come into meetings acting like you going to mess the deal up. I got it.”

For Philip, this was a moment of pride. He looked at his son teary-eyed and stated that this is the moment he had been waiting for. Confused by his father’s comment, Shaq questioned Philip. Who then conveyed to his son that he had been waiting for the one-time MVP to stand up for himself. He said, “I’ll know I raised a man.” 

Shaq was now required to, rather old enough, protect the family and take care of his near and dear ones. Philip also realized that Big Diesel was smart enough to read through things instead of blindly signing them. Eventually, Shaq signed a 15 million dollar deal with Reebok.

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