One of basketball’s most famous partnerships did not end with a handshake, but with a trade, a public feud, and years of separation. Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant separated after winning three championships with the Los Angeles Lakers. Although they exchanged messages on occasion, they were both too busy living their own lives after retirement to stay truly close. Following Bryant’s tragic death in January 2020, O’Neal confessed that his biggest regret was not calling him more. However, that painful lesson has not brought Big Diesel closer to athletes. If anything, it has pushed him further away.

The four-time NBA champion made his current position on athletes and superstars unmistakably clear. “None,” O’Neal told the New York Post when asked who among NBA players, past or present, he keeps in touch with. “I don’t like athletes or superstars because they’re a**holes. I denounced myself from being a celebrity about 10 years ago because those people are weird. I’m not weird.”

The 54-year-old, who played 19 seasons and made 15 All-Star teams, has channeled his energy in an entirely different direction since he left the game. Far from the celebrity circles most retired superstars orbit, Shaq has firmly planted himself in the world of business and education, earning his PhD from Barry University in 2012 and currently working on a master’s in liberal arts. That will be his fourth degree. Even though he has amassed a net worth of $500 million, O’Neal still wants to set an example for his six children and young fans.

“We talk about the NIL, what’s going on now. People always go to the money first, but you have to have the education on how to manage the money,” he said. “I want my children and those that follow me to say, ‘OK, he’s educated.'”

The NBA legend has always prioritized attending school and college over everything else. These values were instilled into him early in life when his mother, Lucille, insisted he finish school while playing basketball. A few years ago, O’Neal opened up about paying for 15 of his friends to earn their master’s degrees because the university couldn’t teach a physical class with one student. The idea of completing his education dawned on him again after he noticed that whenever he walked into business meetings, people would only talk to his representatives because they didn’t think he understood the language of business.

Low-Key, No Entourage, Just Business

The no-celebrity ethos extends to how O’Neal moves through the world day to day. Even when he visited the tech superstore tm:rw in Times Square, which he joined as an investor and partner, the approach is stripped back and deliberately understated. “Whenever I come, it’s me and two guys. No entourage. There’s nothing but homeboys coming in,” Big Diesel said. “We come in here, we take care of business … We sign autographs. We treat people with honor and respect … I want to be a regular guy.”

He does, however, keep memorabilia from his Lakers days with the late Kobe Bryant. He stated that they “remind me of the greatest one-two punch ever.” It is the sole exception to an otherwise complete withdrawal from the athletic world.

A private acknowledgment of a collaboration that, despite everything, resulted in something neither man could have built alone. For everyone else in the locker room, past and present, the line has been drawn. The phone remains quiet. And Shaquille O’Neal wouldn’t want it any other way.