Shaq isn’t holding anything back.
In a new tell-all interview with People, former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal opened up about everything from his family life to his big regrets.
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He explained that when he was still playing basketball, he often considered anger to be one of his greatest assets on the court, but at home the same energy was often destructive.
“After a bad game, especially if it was my fault, missed my free throws, I’d go crazy,” he said. “I’d tear the house up. I was the Hulk.”
O’Neal became a father in 1996, welcoming a daughter with ex-girlfriend Annetta Yardbourgh, and later had five more kids with ex-wife Shaunie Henderson.
“As soon as I saw my children’s faces, I could transform,” he said. “You come home, and they don’t care about any of that. Forty points? It’s ‘Hey, Daddy!’ Two points? ‘Hey, Daddy!'”
When it came to his marriage to Henderson and their divorce amid rumours of his infidelity in 2011, O’Neal admitted, “I was a d**khead. You don’t know how good you got something till it’s gone.”
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These days, O’Neal has devoted much of his passion to charity, often surprising young fans with new sneakers and other items.
“One, it’s the right thing to do. It’s what I was taught,” he said of his giving attitude. “And two, that could be me. That was my parents and me back in the day — them trying to give me things they couldn’t afford. I’ve got plenty of money now.”
“Plus,” he added, “I know what kids like — because I am a kid.”
