Shaquille O’Neal remains one of the most famous athletes on the planet a decade after retiring. Not everyone to know or enjoy Shaq is a basketball fan since he’s branched out into so many other fields throughout the years. The NBA is still the place that he’s most popular in since he had an iconic career and still is involved as a top broadcaster.
However, O’Neal has had a post-basketball career unlike any other NBA star given all the business opportunities and other passions he’s put his time into. Shaq clearly has succeeded at becoming more than a basketball player. The following weird things outside of basketball show how O’Neal is one of a kind.
10 Investing In Papa John's & Becoming Face Of Brand
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The Papa John’s pizza franchise was in a terrible spot falling behind their competitors and having their founder John Schnatter create negative headlines with his controversial actions. Various comments that offended customers caused the company to lose money and pivot without him.
Shaquille O’Neal became an investor and part of the board of directors for the pizza brand moving forward. The presence of Shaq is quite prominent with Papa John’s, including his own Shaq-a-roni pizza to spark some positive momentum for the brand.
9 Unique Acting Career
The acting career of Shaquille O’Neal has been growing since the early days of his NBA career. Most basketball players wait until retirement, but Shaq wanted to branch out in Hollywood from day one due to his natural personality.
Films like Blue Chips, Kazaam and Steel disappointed and showed that he wouldn’t be a massive acting star. O’Neal still did enough to have quite a few acting roles to his name with them consistently coming in secondary roles for projects like Grown-Ups 2, Blended and Scary Movie 4.
8 Having His Own Video Game
One of the dreams of Shaquille O’Neal was to have his own video game but in a different field than Michael Jordan or other players in the basketball realm. Shaq Fu was a beat em up fighting video game in the ‘90s that was hated at the time but became a cult favorite in later years.
The repackaged Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn was released for modern consoles in 2018 and is still sold at major video game stores today. O’Neal is still making money from a video game concept that fizzled out almost three decades ago since it is more loved these days.
7 Becoming A Police Officer
Another shocking side-career path for Shaquille O’Neal saw him chasing another dream outside the hardwood court. O’Neal had a desire to become a police officer and did just that when he became a reserve officer in the offseason during his time on the Los Angeles Lakers.
Various locations have made Shaq a reserve officer or honorary deputy based on where he lived at the time. O’Neal shockingly had his deputyship removed after his foul-mouthed rap insulting Kobe Bryant was online, but he was again a reserve officer in the following years.
6 Hosting Santa Claus Events For Children
WWE legend Mick Foley has made a new legacy outside of wrestling with his passion for being Santa Claus during the holiday season. Shaquille O’Neal doesn’t talk about it as much as Foley, but he certainly had the same passion when trying to come up with a unique way to help poor kids during the holiday season.
O’Neal started the “Shaq-a-Clause” event to offer gifts, haircuts, clothes, video games, food and other themed events for hundreds of kids in need. The big man clearly has a heart of gold and wanted to use his platform to do something positive here.
5 Becoming General Manager Of 2K Esports Team
Another interesting investment of Shaquille O’Neal saw him wanting to get involved in the esports gaming world after that industry started to blow up. NBA 2K is only basketball related title to those who play as this leans more into the more hardcore gaming business.
O’Neal is the General Manager of the Kings Guard Gaming team in the NBA 2K esports league. Another investment in the NRG Esports team sees him involved in their various competitions of esports leagues for games like Fortnite, Apex Legends, Overwatch and many more games.
4 Trying His Hand At Rap Music
Rap music was one of the early passions from Shaquille O’Neal that fans got to see when he started his NBA career. O’Neal always stated that he wanted to be a basketball star, rap star and actor when growing up and developing his personality.
Four studio albums were released by Shaq, but he never achieved the intended success there beyond getting to have a lot of fun. The infamous freestyle rap dissing Kobe Bryant after the Los Angeles Lakers lost the 2008 NBA Championship ended up being his most viewed rap work.
3 Conducting The Boston Pops Orchestra
The most random thing that Shaquille O’Neal did outside of basketball involved the Boston Pops Orchestra. O’Neal signed with Boston Celtics towards the end of his career when wanting another chance at an NBA Championship.
The Boston Pops Orchestra allowed Shaq to play the conductor role for a cool visual. O’Neal loved having fun in new areas outside the sport and this was a perk to his Boston time. No other NBA player would have appreciated this as much as he did.
2 Becoming A Touring Concert DJ
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A more recent wild new hobby of Shaquille O’Neal is becoming a DJ that does live performances. DJ Diesel is the stage name used by O’Neal and fans often love his performances. Various popular festivals have booked Shaq as one of the secondary acts in a solid role for someone with his experience.
Governor’s Ball in New York, Tomorrowland in Belgium, and Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas are some of the bigger festivals to have O’Neal in their lineup. Shaq also does smaller shows in party cities like Miami or Los Angeles to have fun.
1 Pro Wrestling Matches
One of the most fitting yet surprising things Shaquille O’Neal did outside of basketball was pro wrestling. WWE had Shaq appear in a battle royal at WrestleMania 32 having a memorable stare off with Big Show teasing a match that never came.
However, a more difficult match took place a few years ago when O’Neal appeared for All Elite Wrestling. Shaq and Jade Cargill defeated Cody Rhodes and Red Velvet in a fun mixed tag match. The most shocking moment saw O’Neal taking a table bump, committing fully to the wrestling business.