When Myles was 19, his dad was navigating a business setback in an industry he’s not really involved in. A couple of years later, Myles was the one who made Shaquille O’Neal more open to the c——s industry. He’s an outlier for this. Unlike his idol, Michael Jordan, Shaq’s not into cigars or smoking in general. Sometime after retirement and divorce, he replaced clubbing with hookah but maintained a hard stance on w–d. He wanted his children to have the same stance on it as well. That was until his eldest son changed his mind.

Myles is Shaunie Henderson’s son from a relationship before Shaq. He adopted him and holds Myles to the same standards as his other five kids. O’Neal loves that he and Myles DJ together. Something he shared on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert recently. “My oldest son is one of the world’s top DJs… Myles O’Neal. Like, I taught him I bought him a little controller.” Dad-flex much?

On the day he recorded this podcast, Shaq and Myles were due to fly to Cologne, Germany, on the big guy’s private jet for Shaq’s Bass All Stars. These days, they’re the O’Neal Boyz, EDM’s only father-son duo. But before that, Myles used to be Shaq’s ride to and from the airport. An interesting incident went down on one such drive that made Shaq both angry and proud.

“So I land in LA. He picks me up, and the car smells like c——s,” Shaq narrated. Why would that be a problem? O’Neal, while not against NBA players using w—, never felt inclined to it. He apparently had a stricter stance on it regarding his kids. So as soon as he smelled Myles’ car, Shaq cussed at him. “I don’t put hands on, but it gets very intense.”

Myles, to his credit, handled it very maturely. “He starts laughing. He said, ‘Dad, uh, have you seen my latest report card?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ And he got all As. He said, ‘Okay.’ He said, ‘Dad… Hey, no disrespect, Dad, but I’ve always had As, I’ve always did what you wanted to do, and c——- is legal, and I’m 21.’” And Shaq’s response? “It made me shut the f-k up.” The dad of six was left speechless then and today describes it as, “Checkmated me.”

Myles’ approach didn’t exactly convert Shaq. But he at least doesn’t get severe consequences for it, and Shaq lets him do what he wants. It’s a big move for O’Neal, especially after he was hurt by the business.

Shaquille O’Neal’s bad experience in this space

Shaquille O’Neal admitted turning a blind eye to teammates using w— in an era when the NBA didn’t allow it (it’s no longer banned since the 2023 CBA). Contrary to rumors, Shaq never used it. Instead, he turned to hookah after retiring. NFL pro, Calvin Johnson, couldn’t convince him to get on board his m——- venture either.

It’s not that O’Neal didn’t test the waters in this business (he used to be against AI and crypto, too, but did experiment in these industries). As is his policy to hire experts to manage areas he has no idea about, he gave a business partner $125,000 to invest in a cannabis business over a decade ago. A year after doing that, Shaq and another investor were suing this business partner in 2016 for allegedly squandering his investment.

The lawsuit alleged that the company had no licenses, revenue, or operations for a year since Shaq invested in it. O’Neal and the other plaintiffs were demanding $1 million in repayment and damages. The documents claimed that Shaq wanted “to pursue opportunities in the field of legal cannabis.” This was at least two years before Myles was 21 when the incident went down.

What the outcome of this lawsuit was remains unknown. It looks unlikely O’Neal would venture into this space again. Unless maybe Myles presents an opportunity he can’t refuse.