• Shaquille O’Neal said his father’s advice to make him stay in college helped change his career.
• O’Neal said he wanted to leave LSU after one year, but his father told him, “You been broke for 18 years, you can be broke for 19 years.”
• O’Neal said he was not ready to make a lot of money, so he stayed in school.
• O’Neal said he still hit stumbling blocks with his money, but that he was better off for staying in school.
• Follow all of Business Insider’s 2019 NBA All-Star coverage here >

Shaquille O’Neal’s father gave him financial and educational advice through “one of the greatest quotes ever.”

Speaking at Turner Sports’ media availability from the NBA All-Star Weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina, O’Neal said if he had a do-over, he still wouldn’t be a one-and-done college player. O’Neal stayed at LSU for three years, leaving in 1992 for the NBA Draft.

O’Neal said despite wanting to leave for the NBA after one year, his father convinced him otherwise.

“My father gave me one of the greatest quotes ever: ‘So you been broke for 18 years, you can be broke for 19 years,'” O’Neal said on Thursday. “Because I wanted to come out my sophomore year. I said, ‘Why?’ I said, ‘It’s time for us to get some money.’

“He said, ‘Nah, you been broke for 18 years, you can be broke for 19 years.’ So, I would have to be mentally ready, physically ready, and I would have to know what I was getting into.”

O’Neal said that even upon coming into the NBA, he had some trouble managing his money. He said he had to learn what FICA was, joking that he thought someone stole money from his check.

“I was making so much money I had no idea what I was getting into,” O’Neal said. “So I had to kinda go back to school, figure out what certain things was. Like, I had never heard of FICA. I had to go back and ask one of my professors, ‘Who’s FICA? Some mistress took $US2 million off my check. Who is she?'”

O’Neal had previously discussed his financial missteps when he was younger. He told Business Insider in 2017 that he once spent $US1 million in one day by buying three Mercedes-Benz for himself, his mother, and father. Shaq then purchased expensive jewellery and gifts for friends. After deducting taxes and his agent’s percentage, he realised he had spent all of his money from a recent paycheck.

Read more:


SHAQ: How spending $US1 million in one day changed my financial strategy forever

O’Neal also told HBO’s “Real Sports” that he owns the record for Walmart’s biggest purchase when he essentially furnished his new home in one night at Walmart.

Read more:


Shaq has a wild story about spending $US70,000 at Walmart – the biggest purchase in company history

O’Neal said that getting extra education and financial advice was important for him and he would encourage other players to do so with the NBA’s salaries rising.

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