Shaquille O’Neal Encourages Children to Pursue Diverse Careers

LOS ANGELES, CA — Shaquille O’Neal, a legendary figure in professional basketball, opened up about parenting during his May 23 appearance on TODAY. O’Neal, who has seven children, stated his firm belief that they should not follow directly in his footsteps as a basketball player.

“We don’t need another basketball player. At all,” the 53-year-old said. He expressed his hopes that his children pursue careers in law, medicine, engineering, or artificial intelligence instead. “Please go to law school. Please go to medical school. Please be an AI inventor. Just do something else,” he urged.

O’Neal emphasized the importance of hard work in achieving success, joking, “In order to touch daddy’s cheese, you got to show me two or three degrees.” He has four children with his ex-wife Shaunie O'Neal: Shareef, 25; Shaqir, 21; Amirah, 23; and Me’arah, 19.

He shared his parenting philosophy, stating that he never imposes strict guidelines on his kids. “I never say, ‘Do this or do that,’” O’Neal explained. “They just have to live their lives. I hate using this word, but I have seven perfect children. I haven’t had a problem with any of my children ever. God bless.”

The former NBA star is currently featured in the Netflix docuseries “Power Moves With Shaquille O’Neal,” where he addresses the potential challenges of a basketball career with his son Shareef. O’Neal reminded him of the personal sacrifices he made in pursuit of his own athletic career. “You know you’re going to have to give everything up, right?” he asked Shareef, who acknowledged the impact of his father’s absence during significant family events.

“My dad missed birthdays, games, Christmas,” Shareef recalled. “I respected that, but I know when I was a kid, we always used to ask, ‘Is Dad gonna be there?’” Despite his busy schedule, O’Neal reflects on the blessings of having well-adjusted children. “I try to spoil them, but not really. I’ve been blessed. I have wonderful children,” he said.