Shaquille O’Neal Admits Visiting Bars During Childhood Before Quitting Alcohol Years Later

Some of us have the coolest grandads. The kind that introduces you to new places and sneaks you extra candy when mom says no. That was Shaq’s “Bruh”. It’s what he called his grandfather. When George Wallace came on the season finale of The Big Podcast, Shaq wished he was his grandpa. But yet ‘Uncle George’ can’t replace Shaq’s Bruh. Granpda Diesel was the kind to introduce Shaquille O’Neal to new stuff, even if they weren’t age appropriate.

Shaquille O’Neal confessed to Adam Lefkoe that he’d been to bars as a very young child with his maternal grandfather. O’Neal didn’t spend enough time with him because he and his mother, Lucille O’Neal, would move to Germany for his stepfather, Sgt. Philip Harrison’s job. But he has vivid memories of their hangouts.

“My recollection of my grandfather, Bruh, is what we used to call him… when I was young he used to take me to the bar and my grandma used to have to come at one or two,” Shaq recalled on The Big Podcast, which made Lefkoe extremely amused. Exactly as his co-host seemed to imagine it, Shaq said his grandpa would, “Sit me on the counter at the bar and just drink with his boys and have me out with his boys.”

Note: Shaq never says if even a drop of his grandpa’s drink touched his mouth at that age. What he picked up from his limited time with his grandfather with the really cool car was a love for a set of wheels himself. As an adult anyway, O’Neal isn’t inclined to alcohol. The reason for it is also connected to his family.

Shaquille O’Neal’s path did a 180

The 4x NBA champion used to have a tradition of having a drink with his dad after a championship or after winning a game. He, however, curbed that. “I do drink but not in public because I can’t do nothing to jeopardize my mother’s empire,” O’Neal said in an old interview. His mother kicked an alcohol addiction and to support her, Shaq has more or less stopped drinking himself. So even though this party animal is often deejaying at clubs, he’d never touch a drink.

His choice has come in the way of socializing sometimes. O’Neal revealed on David Letterman’s Netflix show that he was upset when the entire TNT cast and crew went to the local watering hole after games without him. To keep himself occupied, he made an impulse-purchase – an entire hookah bar. 

From frequenting bars with his Bruh as a kid to shunning the same as an adult, Shaq’s full of stories. Hopefully, he returns with an all new season of The Big Podcast with more Shaq-lore.

Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger