Basketball superstar Shaquille O’Neal (50) is a living NBA legend. The 2.16 meter giant has won the North American professional league four times in the course of his 19-year professional career. In a new interview with People, however, “Shaq,” as he was often called, recalls aggression during his playing career.
So O’Neal dismantled his own home, especially after painful defeats. “After a bad game, especially if it was my fault missing my free throws, I would lose it,” reveals the 15-time NBA All-Star. “I tore up the house. I was the Hulk”.
O’Neal’s aggressive tendencies were already evident in his youth. The O’Neal family often changed their place of residence and “Shaq” first looked for the reigning top dog in his new hometown, beat him up and took his position. “I almost killed someone,” O’Neal recalls of a fight in the schoolyard. He was then shown the local prison and from then on he preferred to try his hand at being a class clown. Both were mechanisms to circumvent his insecurities.
The former NBA superstar also reports that it was only after having six children that he calmed down. “As soon as I saw my children’s faces, I could transform,” says O’Neal. His basketball game results were not important for the youngsters. “You come home and they don’t care about any of it. Forty points? It’s like, ‘Hey, Daddy!’ Two dots? ‘Hey, Daddy!’.”
