Shaquille O’Neal

Sports Speaker Shaquille O’Neal (also known as Shaq) is a 4-time NBA Champion and quite the entertainer off the court. He currently cracks jokes and commentates on NBA games with Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley on TNT’s Inside the NBA.

Standing at over 7 feet tall with a shoe size 23, Shaq commands any room he walks into, or basketball court for that matter. During his career, Shaq was one of the most dominant big men the NBA has ever seen. His sheer size mixed with genuine talent for the game was too much for many of his opponents to handle. Some of Shaq’s achievements include winning an Olympic Gold Medal at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, winning Gold at the 1994 FIBA World Championships in Canada, being named NBA Rookie of the Year, NBA All-Star Game MVP, NBA Champion, and NBA Most Valuable Player, to name just a few.

One of the most famous basketball players in the history of the NBA, O’Neal’s nineteen year career in the sport includes playing for six teams: the Orlando Magic, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Miami Heat, the Phoenix Suns, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Boston Celtics. Shaq competed in 4 NBA Finals throughout his career where he was named MVP 3 times and is one of the few professional basketball players in history to reach the NBA Finals with three different teams.

Off of the court, Sports Speaker Shaquille O’Neal has made a name for himself in the music industry as a rap artist, as an actor in motion pictures as well as television, through business ventures in real estate, and as a spokesperson for such brands as Reebok, Nestle, IcyHot, Pepsi-Cola, Burger King, Gold Bond, and Buick. He is also the author of his autobiography, Shaq Uncut: My Story, which he released in 2011 to rave reviews from fellow sports Hall of Famers Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, and Jerry West, as well as NBA Commissioner David Stern.

Shaq’s latest business venture will be a new restaurant called Big Chicken Shaq. The massive 2,800 square foot eatery located off the Las Vegas strip will open in October 2019. Fans can watch Shaq take on the food industry when his new interactive eight episode Facebook Watch series premieres in Fall 2019.

After retiring from the sport in 2011, Sports Speaker Shaquille O’Neal became a sports analyst on TNT’s postgame show, Inside the NBA. Shaq continues to hold this role alongside fellow analysts Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and host Ernie Johnson. He has also had two reality television series in his career, Shaq’s Big Challenge in 2007 and Shaq VS which aired from 2009 – 2010.