Shaquille O’Neal’s children will have to come correct if they want him to serve them an alley-oop with their business endeavors. Shaq isn’t against lending his children an assist; in fact, he is more than happy to support them, but he also wants his kids to rely on their own merit.
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee has four children with his ex-wife Shaunie, including sons Shareef and Shaqir and daughters Amirah and Me’arah. He shares a stepson, Myles, with Robinson. He welcomed his sixth child, daughter Taahirah, with his ex-girlfriend Arnetta Yardbourgh.
The former Los Angeles Lakers center opened up about the expectations he has for his offspring in a Nov. 25 interview with PEOPLE. He told the outlet, “When it comes time that you want to do something, we’re going to do it like you have to do it in the real world.” By this, Shaq meant he expects his kids to present him with a résumé, a business plan, and the numbers to back whatever business effort they hope to bring to fruition.
Shaq continued: “I don’t give a s**t what you are, because if it’s done the right way, I believe in nepotism… If I like it, I’ll do it. I’ll point you in the direction of somebody to get it done and you’re on your way.”
Last year, when he appeared on the “Earn Your Leisure” podcast, he reiterated his approach to stressing the importance of work ethic to his children. “My kids are older now. They’re kind of upset with me, not really upset, but they don’t understand. I tell them all the time, ‘We ain’t rich. I’m rich,” he said at the time.
Shaq said the one rule he teaches all his children is that education is everything. “I don’t care if you play basketball. I don’t care about none of that,” he said. “Listen, I got six kids. I would like a doctor, somebody to own a hedge fund, a pharmacist, a lawyer, someone that owns multiple businesses, someone to take over my business. But I tell them I’m not going to hand it to you. You gotta earn it.”
View the tweet below to hear Shaq talk about the value of work ethic.