When Tyler Herro’s salary hit the eight-figure mark, he went a little crazy. He spent it on at least four cars for himself and his parents, a $5k Gucci purse for his mom, artwork, jewelry, and even $10,000 on dining out. If the free agency rumor mill is to be believed, he’s looking at a $42 million payday soon. The story seems almost familiar. A decade before Herro was born, Florida had another superstar player by the name Shaquille O’Neal. He was famous for the high life as much as his insane domination of the court. His move across the coast was not only a big shift in the league but to Shaq himself for a huge financial lesson.

Today, Shaquille O’Neal is the walking multipreneur blueprint with a $500 million net worth and businesses in California, Texas, Georgia, Florida, and more. He just signed a $480 million deal to sell his shoes in Turkiye, too. Hard to believe this is the same guy who nearly put himself in the red once. O’Neal was concerned about history repeating itself when he stopped by Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard.

NBA players are signing supermax deals far beyond the $120 million he made history with in 1996. With a $76 billion NBA media rights package kicking in, the salaries are going to get higher. Shaq felt these youngsters have no idea how to handle that.

“A lot of people don’t understand. I was looking at NBA salaries a day. Yeah. I don’t want to put people’s business out there, but a guy’s making 50 and living in California after tax, he’s only netting 17. So, you know, like they always, ‘Oh, he’s making 200 million.’ But we know as business people, you don’t net 200 million,” he revealed.

Dax Shepard agreed with Shaq and pointed out that a chunk of those nine figures goes to agents. And the Scrubs star also remembers O’Neal is speaking from experience.

Shaquille O’Neal got a hard knock on financial responsibility

As Dax Shepard recalled, Shaquille O’Neal was “overdrawn” in a few days of earning his first millions. As NBA historians would verify, by the summer of 1995, O’Neal knew he was worth a lot more than Orlando was offering. Magic refused, Jerry West put down an offer, and O’Neal was off to the Lakers. His effort was going to earn him $120 million for 7 years. On paper.

Along with his NBA salary, Los Angeles brought Shaq cool new entertainment and commercial opportunities. Very soon, he had a $1 million paycheck. O’Neal thought he hit the jackpot. What he didn’t know is that Florida and California operated differently. Within the first hour of his million-dollar paycheck, he bought himself a Mercedes. His mom and dad loved his car, so he bought them one each, too. Suits and jewelry followed.

By the big guy’s estimate, he should’ve had $850,000 in the bank. When he actually saw his bank balance, it was way less because FICA took its due. “I don’t know no m———— FICA. They took [something like] $200,000!” was his first reaction. Later, it was to learn financial literacy. He saved his paychecks, invested, and grew his wealth.

Some of his favorite players, like Chet Holmgren and Paolo Banchero, are signing contracts worth $200+ million. When Shaq sees NBA players making big bucks, he hopes for two things: they don’t waste it and they don’t do whatever Rudy Gobert is doing ($250 million and no bag, yada yada). Through Netflix’s Power Moves, we can see Shaq guide Angel Reese and Matas Buzelis to think of their financial futures beyond basketball.

These days, he’s teamed up with The General so young college kids don’t gain financial literacy the hard way. His most famous tip – “Save 75% and have fun with 25%.” Leave it to Shaq to make fiscal responsibility sound fun.