Over a decade ago, Shaquille O’Neal set a precedent that a lot of parents copied when he said, “To get to my cheese, you have to show me two degrees.” He now boasts a $500 million net worth and is on his fourth degree, setting an example for his six kids on how to build an empire. His kids are grown and on their own paths, not reliant on an automatic inheritance. Even as the O’Neal kids are building on the big guy’s brand, Shaq’s strict criteria still stands.
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Shaq famously made his parenting philosophy known across multiple appearances over the years, including his 2018 appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. It resurfaced after his recent appearance on the Dinner Party podcast on November 5, where he talked about financial responsibility with the panel. Shaq revealed how his parents made college a priority for him. When the hosts asked the basketball icon about his kids, O’Neal offered a completely unfiltered look into his parenting philosophy.
“Well, trials and tribulations are definitely different,” Shaq stated, referencing the differences in his own tough upbringing. “So, I’m not as hard on my kids as my parents were on me, but luckily I have nine great children. I hate using this word. All my kids are perfect. I don’t have any problems.”
Shaq has six, not nine — Myles, Taahirah, Shareef, Amirah, Shaqir, and Me’Arah. But he didn’t forget the strict demand to ensure financial independence in his household.
“They were mad at me for a while because I put out a statement that says, ‘We’re not rich. I’m rich.’ So, you know, I try to make them work for it. The girls have to work a little easier, but the guys I just try to make them work for.”
This was something he said over five years ago. Since then, Myles has established his own DJ and modeling career, while Shareef overcame open-heart surgery and took two shots at the NBA. Taahirah recently joined the board of The Shaquille O’Neal Foundation and oversees the construction of a youth development complex in Las Vegas.
Even after all this time, Shaq’s academic requirements for his inheritance still stand.
“And I finally open up the books for them. I said, ‘Hey, when something happens to me, this is what you get with their stipulations. Got to have a master’s. Got to have a bachelor’s.’ So, and if you want to touch the cheese, you got to have two or three degrees.”
Emphasizing his broader expectations for their futures, O’Neal noted, “We don’t need another basketball player in no family. If your father’s crazy, your father’s insane, I don’t want you to be like that. Just be something else. And when you got nine children, that’s nine different things.”
Shaq especially discouraged his son, Shareef, from an NBA career because of his cardiac history. He instead brought him on a major creative role to revive Reebok and later his affordable footwear line, SHAQ Brand. After working on Angel Reese’s signature shoe collection, Shareef debuted the Shareef by Shaq footwear collection during New York Fashion Week in September. The designs prominently feature a center-cut zipper honoring his past heart surgery.
Shaq himself has repeatedly praised his son for modernizing his brand and teaching him a thing or two about the latest trends. DJ Diesel also admits that Myles is a better DJ than he is.
Athletic excellence also thrives across the family, as seen with daughter Me’Arah O’Neal starring as a dynamic forward for the Kentucky Wildcats women’s basketball team. Whether his children are launching fashion lines or earning multiple degrees, the Hall of Famer maintains a strict standard of productivity.
Explaining how he supports their career ambitions outside of sports, O’Neal stated on the podcast, “You tell me what you want to do, I’m sure I know somebody in that field. You want to do a podcast, I know a lot of producers. You want to do movies, I can call anybody Hollywood.”
While he hasn’t exactly enforced the ‘two degrees’ stance, the uncompromising stance ensures his empire functions as a launching pad for personal achievement rather than a permanent safety net. Instead of coasting on a famous last name, Shaq expects his offspring to carve out independent professional identities across wildly different industries.