Shaquille O’Neal did not know his biological father when he was young. His mother, Lucille O’Neal, started seeing drill sergeant Phillip A. Harrison when O’Neal was just two years old. They subsequently tied the knot. As he was very young, Shaq grew up thinking that Harrison was his real father. Lucille was waiting for the right moment to talk to her son about it. However, one fateful day forced her to speak. The Los Angeles Lakers legend recently opened up about the time he found out Harrison was not his biological father during an appearance on the Dear Fathers Podcast.

During the show, host Jesse Alex asked O’Neal about the time he came to know Harrison was his stepfather. The host noted that his father was not around when he grew up as well. So he wanted to know how a young Shaq felt at the time. The 4x NBA champion made it clear that he does not use the word “stepfather”.

He said, “My mother and I, we met Sergeant Harrison, who I consider my father, when I was two. So I was young. And I don’t know you heard the story, in school one day, a kid asked me, ‘Why is your last name different?'”

While his last name was O’Neal, his siblings’ were Harrison. Confused, Shaq went home and asked his mother about it. Lucille disclosed the details and took Shaq to meet his real father.

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Young Shaquille O’Neal was not ready

Joseph Toney is the biological father of Shaquille O’Neal. Toney was convicted and sentenced to six years in jail. So, he was not around during O’Neal’s childhood. After Shaq was confused about his last name, Lucille O’Neal took him to meet his father. However, young Shaq was not ready to come back to the projects to live with Toney.

He said, “At this time, we were living in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. Good living for me. Growing up in the projects, moving from grandma’s house, not really having anything of your own.”

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Talking about meeting his father for the first time, Shaq added, “It was right back where we were at in the projects. I was like, ‘Nah, I’m cool. I’m good.'” The Hall of Famer was not keen on living with Toney and decided to return home. His relationship with Toney did not recover for a long time. Shaq even dissed his father in one of his songs. However, things finally mended between the two after Harrison’s passing.