Shaquille O’Neal recently revealed the unique way he has taught his children to be independent in their own rights, away from his brand as a basketball superstar.
On the Tuesday edition of Logan Paul’s podcast Impaulsive, Shaq sat down to talk about his life and career.
At one point during the conversation, Paul asked candidly about becoming a father and the cost of raising children strictly.
O’Neal, who has been open about his strict upbringing in the past, offered an example.
“It’s different,” O’Neal said. “So, you know, my kids are gated community gangsters.”
He outlined the way he was raised by his stepfather, saying, “When I was growing up, it was a lot of trials and tribulations…and, you know, his basic thing was, ‘I want you to be a leader and not a follower.'”
“But my kids are not like that,” he clarified, “And I have six wonderful children. I don’t have any problems with my children. I tell them all the time, ‘We don’t need another basketball player. There’s six of y’all. Somebody give me law school, somebody give me hedge fund.’ I got one daughter that’s a marketing director at Pepsi. So listen, ‘I just want you, education, have fun, be yourself.'”
He added, “I tell them, you know, they kind
“That’s a lot of degrees,” Paul replied.
“Yeah, cause I believe in respectable nepotism,” O’Neal said.
Later in the conversation, O’Neal added the one valuable phrase he teaches his kids.
“We’re not rich. I’m rich,” O’Neal said. “You know my oldest son? He’s very smart and it was kind of my fault. I said, ‘My man, if you get all A’s this next semester, you can get whatever you want.’ So he gets all A’s. And I was like, ‘Go to the dealership and pick one.'”
“Then I get a call from Tesla,” O’Neal laughed. “I said, ‘Man, you better take your ass across the street to Honda.'”
“I’m not buying you no damn Tesla,'” he concluded.
Listen above via Impaulsive.