Being a Girl dad comes with pride, but with a unique kind of constant worry, one that never truly goes away. In today’s world, where women’s safety is constantly under threat, fathers are left hoping they’ve done enough to protect their daughters when they’re not around. Shaquille O’Neal knows that feeling all too well. He’s vocal about the need to protect and empower them in a world that too often falls short. Because for Shaq, silence isn’t safety, and protection doesn’t end at the doorstep. Keeping that in mind, the big Aristotle has again spoken on this growing issue.

During a recent appearance on Off the Record with Bailey Jackson and Lachelle Smith, O’Neal didn’t just offer advice, but made it stick. Looking the hosts straight in the eye, he had them repeat his words aloud, reinforcing a message of self-worth, strength, and safety. For Shaq, it’s not just talk. It’s a mission to prepare every woman—his daughters, and beyond—for a world that demands resilience.

“My advice to all ladies is that, repeat after me, ready?… If a nobody can influence a somebody, then the nobody wins. But the question of the day is, who the F are you? Nobody.” That’s how he wants Jackson and Smith to remind their haters they’re nobodies. Because “Nobodies can’t influence somebodies.” He was quick to teach them practically by drawing an example: “If Malika (a Famous journalist) says something, you listen to it cuz she giving you your game. But if a nobody said something, why would you respond? That’s a nobody.”

When the hosts, whom O’Neal claimed are his favorites, admitted they do respond to a few trolls, Shaq advised them to do it with humor and ignore them.“I go straight for the jugular,” Shaq claimed while giving a rather explicit example. “If you’re going to read it, don’t let it affect what you got going on.” He also noted the ladies are “sensitive” just like him. Not because the Inside Guys have knighted Mr Sensitive. It’s because, “I have daughters.”

Shaquille O’Neal is the kind of parent who told his kids that they’d need three degrees before they could get a chunk of his $500 million net worth. But he also risked his sons, Myles, Shareef, and Shaqir’s anger because, “They’re like, ‘You treat the girls different.’ And I was like, ‘You damn right I do.'” It is evident that the love and care the O’Neal ladies get extends to other ladies in Shaq’s life, too.

Shaquille O’Neal is a proud girl dad

The last time Shaquille O’Neal was on The Pivot Podcast, he admitted, “I like my girls a little bit better. Because as a man, you have to protect, provide, and love your woman. I trust them more because they’re more sensitive, they’re more caring, and they’re thinkers.” The result? The O’Neal boys were shooed out of daddy’s house at 18, whereas Shaq joked he’s paying two rents to have Taahirah move to Atlanta.

That’s as far as financial support goes. O’Neal wants his girls to fight their own battles. As Jackson and Smith excel in the media business, Shaq tells them to stay strong, the way he tells his daughters. “The same thing I tell my daughters. Baby, stop it. Cut it out. You’re beautiful. You got this. You got that. You can’t let a hater influence you.”

At least Taahirah has shown some of their dad’s life lessons. The eldest catches strays for being O’Neal’s daughter from a previous relationship. However, she’s been able to clap back or expose a few haters, and mostly tuned them out successfully. It’s great advice we can all live by. The O’Neal girls just get the perks of Shaquille O’Neal, the Girl Dad on the side.

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