Playboy Interview: Shaquille O'Neal

Shaquille O'Neal was ascending into heaven. That's how it seemed to the fans reaching for him as he climbed the steps to the VIP lounge at the Embassy, an Orlando nightclub. It was supposed to be a small, private party, but a radio station had passed the word and half the town showed up. The line stretched nearly half a mile as thousands of people waited three hours for a glimpse. When he arrived, dressed like a titanic leprechaun in a bright green suit and matching derby, the crowd surged forward and tore off the club's glass doors.

The occasion: O'Neal's 24th birthday.

The phenomenon: Shaqmania, which he can't escape even on "quiet" nights on the town. Never one to shun the spotlight, O'Neal sports a tattoo of the Superman logo. He says the S is for Shaq. Another tattoo reads The World Is Mine, and this summer, at least, it's no idle boast: The recent NBA season was O'Neal's most impressive in four All-Star years as the Orlando Magic's center of attention. With $17 million a year in endorsements and with a megamillion-dollar contract pending, he trails only Michael Jordan and Mike Tyson on the jock-wealth list. This month O'Neal will share the spotlight at the Olympics in Atlanta, where he is the pivot of Dream Team III. His fame is such that the Magic pays a security expert to deal with Shaqmania on road trips. O'Neal has been mobbed in Athens, Tokyo, Hong Kong and London. The hoopster–rap star ("Shaq Diesel" went platinum and his second CD, "Shaq-Fu," went gold)–pitchman (Pepsi, Reebok, Taco Bell) is also an actor ("Blue Chips" with Nick Nolte) who has a new movie. He stars in "Kazaam" as a joking, rapping genie. In short, he's typecast.

The film exemplifies O'Neal's style. It is a blend of seeming opposites, a joint effort by Disney and the rap conglomerate Interscope. But just as O'Neal makes his backboard-shattering dunks seem fun rather than fierce, he thinks he can make happy rap without losing the hip in hip-hop. It wouldn't be the first unlikely mix for the man who has been called "a cross between Bambi and the Terminator," just the latest installment in a goofy, all-American melodrama—his life.

In the 1991–1992 season, the year before O'Neal hit the NBA, Otis Thorpe led the league with 162 dunks. Rookie Shaq nearly doubled the record. In 1993–1994 he set a new mark with an absurd 387 dunks. Hall of Famer Bill Walton called him "a combination of Wilt Chamberlain and Magic Johnson," an irresistible force with unstoppable charm. O'Neal seemed to have leaped out of nowhere direct to center stage. In fact, he had spent a troubled youth half a world away before making his mark.

Shaquille Rashuan O'Neal, whose first and middle names are Islamic for "little warrior," was born in Newark, New Jersey on March 6, 1972. His father soon disappeared. His stepdad was an Army sergeant who moved the family to a U.S. Army base in West Germany when O'Neal was a sixth grader. That's where college coach Dale Brown taught a clinic, spotted young Shaq and asked, "How tall are you, soldier?"

"I'm not a soldier, sir. I'm only 13."

After his stepdad was transferred to Texas, O'Neal led San Antonio's Cole High to the state title. He signed on with coach Brown at Louisiana State University and averaged 13.9 points per game as a freshman. By his junior year he was averaging 24.1 points, but opposing teams had adopted a strategy still seen in the pros: In the hack-a-Shaq defense, two or three or four defenders swarm O'Neal whenever he touches the ball. He skipped his senior year at LSU to join the NBA, where such tactics are technically illegal—which simply means more sophisticated. The number one pick in the 1992 pro draft was supposed to be the salvation of the pitiful Orlando Magic. Pepsi and Reebok committed $30 million in endorsement fees before O'Neal played his first NBA minute.

As a Magic rookie he tore down the rim on a ferocious dunk. And not just the rim. In a long, loud, nearly slow-motion process, the rim crumpled, followed by the backboard and finally by the steel-reinforced goal support. The NBA hired engineers to fortify goals around the league. More important, the woeful Magic improved from 21–61 to 41–41. That off-season the Rookie of the Year had a small part in the hoops film "Blue Chips," starring Nick Nolte. O'Neal didn't make the first five in the credits, but his fame was jumping fast. Posters for the film read Nolte–Shaq.

In 1993–1994, his second pro year, O'Neal averaged 29.3 points, second in the league to San Antonio's David Robinson. Orlando made the playoffs for the first time. A year later O'Neal again averaged 29.3, this time winning the scoring title. His 11.4 rebounds per game were the league's third best. He led Orlando to the NBA finals, where the Magic lost to Hakeem Olajuwon and the Houston Rockets. After that series Olajuwon called Shaq "the future of this league."

As his basketball skills improve, O'Neal's fame grows. He's a natural force who never appears to work hard, yet last summer he sweated with fitness trainer Billy Blanks and got stronger than ever. His seemingly listless, earthbound playing style can shift instantly into mad spells of dunking, driving, shot-blocking genius. He is the sports world's top colossus, but like Wilt Chamberlain before him he can't master his game's simplest task: The guy can't hit a free throw.

We sent Contributing Editor Kevin Cook to meet him at his home outside Orlando, just down the road from Disney World. Cook reports:

"Casa Shaq is a 22,000-square-foot mansion jammed with fan mail, pinball machines, computer games and life-size figures of movie monsters. It's as if Tom Hanks' character in 'Big' became an NBA All-Star. O'Neal's music studio and putting green are under construction. When Shaq is there, everything seems in perspective. After all, this is a man who wears a 22EEE shoe and a size 52 shirt (or XXXXL). His four dogs' names are all pop references: Thor, Shazam, Prince and Die-Hard.

"Since O'Neal is a starstruck superstar, one wall of his TV room is covered with the framed jerseys of dozens of other famous jocks, his heroes. Two of these mementos bear the number 32, which is also Shaq's number. One is Magic Johnson's Laker jersey, inscribed, 'To the most versatile big man ever. Keep rappin'.' Another 32 is a USC jersey, signed 'Peace,' from O.J. Simpson.

"Our most exciting moments took place about 3200 miles west of the Shaq Shack. One day in Long Beach, California, where he was working on a Taco Bell commercial, I waited three hours for the interview session he'd promised. But filming ran late, and Quincy Jones, Shaq's dinner date, was waiting for him in Beverly Hills, 45 minutes north. There was only one way we could talk: I would drive Shaq to Beverly Hills. Unfortunately I had a midsize rental car. Fortunately Shaquille was game: He squashed his seven-foot frame into the car, his knees almost touching his forehead, and held my tape recorder to his lips so the car's noise wouldn't cover our talk. Then his agent Leonard Armato, whom we were to follow to Beverly Hills, took off like a comet in his black Mercedes Benz, forcing me to hop curbs and run red lights to keep up. There was no time for seat belts. The car chase continued as Armato hit the freeway and zipped between speeding cars. A few times we were inches from a crack-up. I saw the next day's headline: Shaq Bruises Thumb—Unknown Man Dies. But we squeaked through, and Shaquille, who can be monosyllabic on an ordinary day but responds well to danger, talked openly about the unlikely transformation of a once clumsy boy into an athletic conglomerate."

[Q] Playboy: We almost crashed on the freeway, but you never blinked.

[A] O'Neal: Nothing scares me. I'm an action guy. Scuba diving, bungee jumping, motorcycles—I'm there. I bungeed off a crane in Orlando and loved it. I'm getting a new motorcycle, too, a specially made, really big Harley.

[Q] Playboy: Doesn't your contract forbid dangerous hobbies?

[A] O'Neal: Yes. I'm not allowed to skydive, ride motorcycles, stuff like that. But I like going fast. I wiped out on a moped in Hawaii, rubbed a bunch of skin off my leg. My Harley will be a lot faster than any moped, but I won't get hurt. And I am going to skydive.

[Q] Playboy: So you've violated your $41 million contract with the Magic? What if you get hurt and they quit paying you?

[A] O'Neal: They could. I would still go skydiving.

[Q] Playboy: What other stunts have you tried?

[A] O'Neal: Parasailing in Mexico. A boat pulls you almost 100 miles an hour and you go hundreds of feet up in the air. Then you come down and hit hard. You could break your leg. But I always approach things thinking, What's the worst thing that could happen here? With parasailing the worst thing is landing wrong, so I concentrate on turning at the last second, hitting the water with the side of my leg. One thing about me, whether I'm sailing or cycling or jumping my Sea-Doo like a crazy man: I know how to land.

[Q] Playboy: And you'll bet $41 million on it.

[A] O'Neal: I'm not a worrier.

[Q] Playboy: Now you've landed a starring role in the Olympics. Can you cover the 50-point spread against Lithuania?

[A] O'Neal: Dream Teams I and II set such high standards, people almost expect us to slip up. That's why I'm telling Lenny Wilkens I don't want to start. I want to be the sixth man. That way at least you get big applause when you go in.

[Q] Playboy: Will you get emotional at the medals ceremony?

[A] O'Neal: Nah. The Olympics is a job. It's my job to kick some butt and bring back the gold. Maybe have some fun with the guys.

[Q] Playboy: You outplayed Michael Jordan in this year's All-Star game, but he got the MVP award. Were you pissed?

[A] O'Neal: A little. With the game in San Antonio I figured David [Robinson] would play unbelievably and be the MVP. But he got off to a slow start and nobody took over the game, so I thought, Let me. I hit three fadeaways, got a big dunk late, thought I was a shoo-in. Then politics took over. But it's cool, it's over now. Me and Jordan, man, we're friends. He came to me after the game with the trophy under his arm. He said, "Here, take it. You deserved it." But I said no. I don't want to win MVP like that. I want the system to give it to me.

[Q] Playboy: Why would the writers voting on the award want to slight you?

[A] O'Neal: Maybe it's my size. People think big guys have it easy, that we don't even have to try. But I just congratulated Jordan that day. The guy still amazes me. A few guys can surprise you—Magic, Charles—but Jordan, with his quickness, does stuff you can't practice, things you can't even dream of. My rookie year, the first time we played Chicago, the first play I ever faced him, he blocked my shot. I think he was actually flying.

[Q] Playboy: You had another embarrassing moment last season when your pants came off. Nobody caught it on film and you wouldn't tell reporters who panted you.

[A] O'Neal: It was Jordan. I was going up, but he grabbed my shorts. I had to go change in a huddle. That stuff happens a lot. I get held, pushed. Guys like to lean on my arm, pin it to my side so I can't rebound. If you watch close you'll see it almost every play. I just don't usually lose my pants.

[Q] Playboy: One NBA coach says you get hacked and smacked—"tormented"—more than any player in history.

[A] O'Neal: I won't take it forever. I'm stronger than ever now, and it's on my clock to stop the abuse. I won't give any warning, either. One night I'll just go crazy and start breaking up people.

[Q] Playboy: This year?

[A] O'Neal:(Grins) If I tell you it won't be a surprise, will it?

[Q] Playboy: We'll come back to hoops. Tell us about your new job in movies.

[A] O'Neal:Kazaam. I play a hip-hop rapping genie with an attitude. He's half human, half magic, so you never know what he'll do. I wanted to make a children's movie because my target audience is four to 14, and I'm still a child myself. I always say that deep down inside I'm ten years younger than my actual age. So I really just turned 14.

[Q] Playboy: Shaq hits puberty—could that cause earthquakes?

[A] O'Neal: I can feel it coming on.

[Q] Playboy: Will you fret about reviews, or are you worry-free as an actor too?

[A] O'Neal: It's my first starring role, so I told everybody on the set, "If it's not right, tell me." I don't want Siskel and Ebert blasting me.

[Q] Playboy: How did they like you as a college dunkster in Blue Chips?

[A] O'Neal: Thumbs up.

[Q] Playboy: How many times have you seen Blue Chips?

[A] O'Neal: A million. I sat in my house and watched it over and over till I wore the tape out. Because it was cool, but also to study the movie and what I did in it. It's a basketball role, so I didn't have to act much, but I thought, The kid's OK.

[Q] Playboy: What's your method? Do you try to feel your character's emotions?

[A] O'Neal: Nick Nolte, who played my coach in the movie, amazed me with how he could turn his emotions on and off. In one second he'd go from tears onscreen to joking around when the camera was off. Now I try to do that. I think about simple feelings: mad, sad, happy. To get pissed off I'll think about losing all my money. To be happy I'll think, I just won $800 million! To be sad I'll think my girlfriend dumped me.

[Q] Playboy: Has that happened?

[A] O'Neal: Of course not.

[Q] Playboy: Do you talk acting with your neighbor Wesley Snipes?

[A] O'Neal: I'm not a versatile actor like Wesley or Denzel Washington. Wesley could play a gangster, a cop, a lover, anything. I'll probably always be a basketball player or a silly comedian.

[Q] Playboy: You sound wistful.

[A] O'Neal: I get a lot of scripts. There was a good one I turned down—they wanted to make me a gangster, a killer. But I'm a role model. Too many of my fans are little kids. Action films, though, they're different. My all-time favorite movies are New Jack City and the Godfather films. Seen 'em a hundred times. I want to make Terminator 3. I've told Arnold we'd be great beating each other up, tearing up the city.

[Q] Playboy: Schwarzenegger looks huge to most of us. Does he seem puny to you?

[A] O'Neal: Just normal. But his muscles are big.

[Q] Playboy: Do you ad-lib or stick to the script?

[A] O'Neal: It depends on the director. On Blue Chips Billy Friedken was lenient. He said, "Have fun with it." I didn't do anything great. One line was, "Somebody owes me a hundred dollars," and I said, "Somebody owes my ass a hundred dollars."

[Q] Playboy: You put your ass on the line.

[A] O'Neal: It added a little. My best ad-libs are in commercials, though. In my first one for Reebok, where I need a password to go in with the legends—Wilt, Walton, Kareem, Bill Russell—the line was no good: "Speak softly and carry a big stick." I made it, "Don't fake the funk on a nasty dunk." Now I tell all the companies I deal with to make the ads funny. I'm a comedian. For the Pepsi commercial where I want a drink but the little boy won't give me one, I remembered a Coke ad from when I was little, the one where Mean Joe Greene gave a kid his jersey. We kind of played off that but made it funny—the kid tells me, "Don't even think about it."

[Q] Playboy: Unlike most jocks, you have equity in the companies you flack. That gives you more creative control. What ad ideas have you vetoed?

[A] O'Neal: Shaqzilla. I turned down a King Kong ad, too. I said no, I'm more versatile than King Kong. Ad agencies get paid a lot to create commercials, but I turn most of them down. The ad guys get mad, but they don't like to challenge me. They go to the Reebok or Pepsi people and complain.

[Q] Playboy: Didn't you veto an NBA ad?

[A] O'Neal: When I was a rookie they wanted me to tell kids to stay in school. How could I do that when I left LSU a year early? So we compromised. They changed the line to, "Stay in high school."

[Q] Playboy: What is it that makes a good commercial?

[A] O'Neal: Don't talk much. Make a funny face, then say a good one-liner. I'm always trying to think of great ones, like "Make my day." My Pepsi ad had a pretty good one-liner. I run through all the old-time TV shows and then say, "Who says there's nothing good on TV?"

[Q] Playboy: You develop spin moves in workouts with Hakeem Olajuwon. Do you practice funny faces too?

[A] O'Neal: Sure. I work at everything. As a kid I thought I would be on TV someday, so I mocked commercials and watched myself in a mirror. I still try different faces and deliveries in the mirror.

[Q] Playboy: Anything you won't endorse?

[A] O'Neal: I was offered a couple hot dog commercials, but then Jordan came out with his hot dog ad, so I said no. Didn't want to be a follower. I turned down the Shaqdanna, a head rag. One company wanted to bottle my sweat and sell it as cologne. They were going to call it EOS, Essence of Shaq. I'm no marketing genius, but I don't think millions of people want that.

[Q] Playboy: Your candy bar, Mr. Big, keeps selling despite its close resemblance to a turd.

[A] O'Neal: Mr. Big is a cross between my favorite candy bars, Whatchamacallit and Milky Way. I must have taste-tested hundreds of them.

[Q] Playboy: How many did you reject?

[A] O'Neal: None.

[Q] Playboy: What do you think of the NBA's marketing?

[A] O'Neal: It works. If I were a kid I'd have the top guys up on my wall—Jordan, me, Charles. Telecommunications are so powerful now, we're known all over the world. I did a clinic in Greece one summer; there were supposed to be about 1500 people there but 34,000 showed up. I dunked and the crowd went crazy. I had to run and hide in the locker room. With me, some of it's the comedy. People like funny faces. Some of it's my size and even my name. Shaq is so easy a two-year-old can say it. As far as the NBA goes, I think Jason Kidd might be the next big name.

[Q] Playboy: What about an older name? We take it you never had Bill Laimbeer's poster on your wall.

[A] O'Neal: He was a flopper. That's a guy who sees me coming 800 miles an hour and falls down, trying to get a foul. Guys who can't play, flop. Laimbeer was the worst.

[Q] Playboy: He liked shooting free throws. That's not exactly your style—this year you're hitting fewer than half your free throws. Why?

[A] O'Neal: I don't concentrate. I practice them a lot and always hit them in practice, but in games I keep missing. I have to concentrate harder.

[Q] Playboy: Rick Barry, one of the best foul shooters ever, shot them underhanded. He thinks you should too.

[A] O'Neal: That's a horrible suggestion. I would never shoot them underhand.

[Q] Playboy: It looks girlish, but aerodynamically it's the best way.

[A] O'Neal: Never.

[Q] Playboy: How about the theory and practice of dunking?

[A] O'Neal: It's the best way to score. Sometimes I dunk so hard it hurts. Especially if a guy tries to block it. I'll think, Let's see if I can break his fingers on the rim. It can really hurt my hands, but with all the adrenaline I don't feel it till after the game, and by then it's OK. The points are on the scoreboard.

[Q] Playboy: This year you hit your first three-pointer.

[A] O'Neal: That was great. I have an NBA video game at home where you can be Shaq or Scott Skiles, the guard who shoots the threes. I'm always Skiles. This time, real life, time was running out, I threw it up and I knew it was in. Knew it, felt it—it's mine.

[Q] Playboy: Come on. It banked in.

[A] O'Neal: Yeah, but I called glass.

[Q] Playboy: Do you have any friends on enemy teams?

[A] O'Neal: I started a group of us, the Knuckleheads. Kind of the NBA bad guys. Not just Orlando players like me and Dennis Scott, but Litterial Green, Rod Strickland, the unusual guys. We let Rodman in. He gets away with a lot—pushing and grabbing—that I'd get called for. He's cool, though. We'll see each other and say, "Get over here, knucklehead!" But I had to retire from the Knuckleheads because I'm a role model. So they have no leader now. I guess Rodman will have to take over.

[Q] Playboy: What did you think when Magic Johnson rejoined the Lakers? Were you concerned about getting AIDS?

[A] O'Neal: I was. But when Magic came back the league sent a doctor around to all the teams. He told us the ways you can get AIDS. He told us to be careful. But you can't get it from sweat, and if you're bleeding and the other guy has a cut too, the odds are still that you won't get it. There were people with HIV who came with the doctor and told their stories. It's helpful, it makes you think. I mean, who can you trust? AIDS has definitely changed the way of life around the league. Guys are more careful. The thinking is, If you don't know someone, then maybe you shouldn't, you know? I always practice safe sex.

[Q] Playboy: Every single time?

[A] O'Neal: Well, almost.

[Q] Playboy: Is sex different for a man who's 7'1", 320 pounds?

[A] O'Neal: No. Women like big men. We can protect them.

[Q] Playboy: Were you always so confident with women?

[A] O'Neal: Nope. I lost my virginity late. I was 17, in college already. I wasn't too awkward about it, but I wasn't a big sex man. One night I was out with the boys and I met a girl. She was older. She had an apartment in Baton Rouge. That's where it happened and it was OK, but just OK.

[Q] Playboy: You've said that you sometimes intimidate women.

[A] O'Neal: Some are scared of my size. I can see it in their eyes. But they don't have to be. I won't bite.

[Q] Playboy: Do you have any advice about women?

[A] O'Neal: Be nice to them. Don't b.s. them, because they're smart. Give them what they want.

[Q] Playboy: Tell us about the two nude women who knocked on your hotel room door.

[A] O'Neal: That's a good rumor, but it never happened. Women do ask me to sign their panties, though. And one woman broke into my house when I was sleeping, came into the bedroom and started climbing me. I'm trying to wake up, spinning around, but she's hanging on my neck, saying, "Oh, you're so great!" Finally the police came.

[Q] Playboy: Other than being climbed at dawn, what turns you off?

[A] O'Neal: Fast-talking women. Heavy makeup. And I don't like women approaching me. I like to do the choosing. A woman needs a sense of humor too. One girl I dated was beautiful, but she had no humor at all. I had to get out of there.

[Q] Playboy: At your birthday party a woman looked at you and said, "A horny Shaq, that would be a force of nature." Reaction?

[A] O'Neal: It's reasonable. But I'm not looking around. I've had the same girlfriend for five years.

[Q] Playboy: You're very secretive about her—the woman you call "my wife."

[A] O'Neal: Well, maybe we're secretly married. She was going to college in Texas, but she just graduated. Now she's chilling out with me at home.

[Q] Playboy: Are you monogamous?

[A] O'Neal: I'm faithful. I can look at a roomful of women and it doesn't turn me on. But faithful depends on your situation. Ours is, "You be honest and so will I."

[Q] Playboy: Ever break anyone's heart?

[A] O'Neal: I couldn't bring myself to hurt a girl's feelings. I'd do crazy things instead. Act silly, burp at the table, anything to irritate her so she'd break up with me.

[Q] Playboy: You were more direct as an NBA matchmaker. Didn't you tell the Magic to trade for your brilliant teammate Penny Hardaway?

[A] O'Neal: He'd worked on Blue Chips, too. That's when I saw how good we could be together. I went to the front office and told them I had analyzed everything, that I wanted to win and this was how to do it. They listened. Certain guys have always had that kind of influence. Magic, Larry Bird. That was when I went up to that level.

[Q] Playboy: Orlando traded the rights to Chris Webber, who has had a troubled career, for Hardaway, who's now an All-Star, and got three draft picks to boot.

[A] O'Neal: I look like a genius, don't I?

[Q] Playboy: But you've made noises about leaving Orlando. You may be a free agent by the time this interview appears. Don't you feel any obligation to the Magic after helping shape the club's roster?

[A] O'Neal: Not really. I did the right thing at the time. If I go to another club, I'll feel I helped this one get better. And if I go, it won't be to another team that needs rebuilding. It'll be one like Orlando is now, one that's doing things right. Because I want to win. Soon.

[Q] Playboy: Everyone suspects you're headed for the Lakers.

[A] O'Neal:[Winks] Los Angeles is a very nice town. I really like the climate. I'd never go where it's cold and snowy.

[Q] Playboy: Bad news for Minnesota.

[A] O'Neal: Sorry, Timberwolves.

[Q] Playboy: Is it true that your asking price is $140 million?

[A] O'Neal: I can't say. There's going to be a negotiation and I need to maximize my value. My agent may start out saying I want $600 million. The other side might say, "Oh, maybe $300 million," and we would come down.

[Q] Playboy: It's an economic conundrum—finding the market value of a unique commodity.

[A] O'Neal: Right. See, I collect things—weird, one-of-a-kind things. I have a pair of mink-lined alligator boots and I don't even know what they cost. I didn't ask. Because a guy making mink-lined alligator boots in my size, 22EEE, can charge whatever he wants. He's the only one doing what he does. It's like the other night when I got to the hotel after the game and I was thirsty, but the stores were closed. This is Charlotte in the middle of the night, the middle of nowhere, but they're smart and they know they've got you. So the hotel charges $1.75 for a Pepsi. I mean, please! If there's a store open that night, another Pepsi anywhere, they'd bring the price down. But it's late and you're thirsty, so you pay it. That's economics.

[Q] Playboy: If you got a $140 million contract, would you have enough money?

[A] O'Neal: Not really, because I wouldn't get it up front. It's paid over years and years, so it doesn't get me all that much closer to my goal.

[Q] Playboy: Which is?

[A] O'Neal: To have $100 million clear by the age of 28.

[Q] Playboy: That sounds realistic.

[A] O'Neal: If I can get to $500 million I plan to give each of my relatives half a mil.

[Q] Playboy: Do they know that?

[A] O'Neal: They didn't until now. But I'm fairly generous with them. I'm always giving my sister money, so one time I made her work for it instead. I paid her $300 to make me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

[Q] Playboy: What's a lot of money to you?

[A] O'Neal: Five hundred million. I may have to win the lottery.

[Q] Playboy: You play the lottery?

[A] O'Neal: I play scratchers. I get five of my friends, I tell each one to buy 20 tickets, and if we win we'll split it up. So far our biggest win is one dollar. We don't even cash those in. I won't cash one in for less than $100.

[Q] Playboy: How do you bet the financial markets?

[A] O'Neal: I don't gamble. That's how greedy people lose their money, by trying to make $2 million into $100 million. I don't need to make $100 million that fast. I earn it. Mostly with the government. The Treasury has most of my money.

[Q] Playboy: So, do you read The Wall Street Journal?

[A] O'Neal: No, I get a monthly statement from my people. What I got, what I spent, what I saved. I'm doing well for a young millionaire in my age group, better than most of them. I don't like to speculate. The stock market is so up and down it scares me. I keep more than half my money in Treasury bills. That way I don't have to worry about interest rates; I just stay with my four, six percent. I don't get much back percentagewise, but it adds up.

[Q] Playboy: As in four percent of $10 million is $400,000.

[A] O'Neal: So I got my money in the government with President Clinton, got my T-bills with Bill.

[Q] Playboy: Who advises you on financial matters?

[A] O'Neal: The business side of my crew is six people. There's Leonard Armato, my agent, who handles the big stuff. Dennis Tracey, my personal assistant, takes care of the day-to-day. Lester Knispel, my tax genius, does most of my money. My mother does the fan mail. My cousins Joe and Ken, two guys I took out of the ghetto to teach them responsibility, they work in my businesses too. My crew is named Twism. It stands for the world is mine. We all have matching tattoos.

[Q] Playboy: Even Mom?

[A] O'Neal: Well, not Mom.

[Q] Playboy: Your investments include Reebok, which provided a sheaf of stock options as a signing bonus, plus exclusive deals on candy, souvenirs and other Shaqabilia. What else?

[A] O'Neal: My Pepsi deal made me part owner of Pepsi South Africa. I have a third of it. Whitney Houston has another third. I'm not sure exactly what it's worth, but it's a lot and it could get huge.

[Q] Playboy: Do you keep a lot of cash around? How do you pay the pizza man?

[A] O'Neal: I pay my own bills, sign the checks myself. I keep my checking account filled to $100,000. That way I can keep up with the bills, maybe buy a car.

[Q] Playboy: What's your current net worth?

[A] O'Neal: Don't know, don't want to look. It seems petty to look, to count your money all the time. Still, I don't think I'm overpaid. Firemen, cops, teachers, those people are underpaid. But I didn't make the salary structure. I just gave it a ride.

[Q] Playboy: What's the last thing you didn't buy because of the price?

[A] O'Neal: A Rolls-Royce. They wanted $275,000, and I don't think you should pay more than about $60,000 for a car. Got six of them now. One has a plate that says Shaq-Fu, one says Dunkon-U and one, the Van of Def, says Shaq Attaq. All with good stereo systems, which I will spend money on. The system in my Suburban cost $60,000. The one in the Van of Def cost $150,000—a lot more than the van cost. That's my priorities.

[Q] Playboy: Is wealth what you expected it to be?

[A] O'Neal: Pretty much. It means you don't have to wait to get your toys.

[Q] Playboy: As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

[A] O'Neal: A stuntman. I studied stunts on TV. I actually used to tape plastic bags over my hands, jump off roofs and try to fly. I'd land on stacks of cardboard boxes. I was always thinking about flying. Even on swings—you know how you swing real high and jump off at the top, and for a second you're flying? I could do that all day.

[Q] Playboy: Were you always a jock?

[A] O'Neal: No, I was clumsy. Always flunked gym, right up to high school. Even now I can do only about ten push-ups. I had size but couldn't climb a rope or wrestle. Actually, I wasn't allowed to wrestle after the time I got mad, threw a boy down and broke his wrist.

[Q] Playboy: How did he make you mad?

[A] O'Neal: He was winning.

[Q] Playboy: You were clumsy and strong.

[A] O'Neal: It turned out I had Osgood-Schlatter's disease. That's a bone disorder where your body grows too fast. The joints in your legs can't catch up. My knees hurt all the time. And because I was different the other kids called me names. Bigfoot. Shaqueer. That made me a bully. I had to show how tough I was, knock people out. In sixth grade a boy told on me, so I waited for him after school. He tried to sneak out, but I caught him. Punched him in the face, almost killed him. He swallowed his tongue, went into convulsions. And I didn't try to help him. I just ran.

[Q] Playboy: You were scared.

[A] O'Neal: I don't get scared. But things got worse—it turned out his father was an Army officer.

[Q] Playboy: And you were an Army brat, weren't you?

[A] O'Neal: My dad was a drill sergeant, Sergeant Philip Harrison. I grew up in Newark, then we went to a base in Germany. I hated it there. I was clumsy, I stuttered. I stayed home and watched a lot of TV. Tom and Jerry, Spider-Man, Good Times, Bugs Bunny. One guy I liked was the Hulk, the guy who just got mad and went wild.

[Q] Playboy: How wild were you?

[A] O'Neal: Not very. Mostly dumb shit. One time I pulled a fire alarm and got caught. My father had to come get me at the MP station and he gave me a beating right there. It hurt. After the boy swallowed his tongue, I lied to the Sergeant about it. I got beat for that. Sometimes for leaving my shirttail out, because he said you had to be neat. There were whuppings all the time.

[Q] Playboy: Yet you kept acting up.

[A] O'Neal: I found out about a law on the base. If parents couldn't handle their kids they had to send them back to the States. I didn't want to grow up in Germany, so I did crazy stuff. But I never got sent back, and finally I thought I was letting my parents down. They both worked hard. My mom was a secretary. (continued on page 145)Shaquille O'Neal(continued from page 54) My dad drove a truck when he was off duty, and he even shined shoes. I didn't want them to think I was a disgrace, and I felt like they did think that. And I wanted them to love me. So I thought, How can I make them smile at me? And how can I get the stuff other kids have? I started studying, brought home Bs and Cs and my dad started being nice to me.

[Q] Playboy: As you grew up, did you hate your father? Did you rebel?

[A] O'Neal: Never. Kids rebel because they don't respect their parents. I didn't like getting beat, but I respected him. And there was something else: He was never going to give up. Even when I was rowdy, doing everything wrong, I knew one of us eventually had to give up, and I knew my dad would never, ever give up.

[Q] Playboy: Do you have any particularly warm memories?

[A] O'Neal: Yes. After I got a whupping, I had to go to my room for an hour. When I came out there would be cookies and ice cream on the table. He was telling me it was over. I caused the situation and deserved what I got, but it was OK now. It was over. That's how the Sarge taught me cause and effect.

[Q] Playboy: Did you ever have a birds-and-the-bees talk with him?

[A] O'Neal: Sure did. I was about 11. He used to fall asleep on the couch watching Benny Hill, and I'd sneak out and look at the titties. One night he woke up and caught me. So pretty soon he gets out our Encyclopaedia Britannica and shows me the parts of the anatomy. I didn't know the words, only the bad ones. I'd never heard "penis" and "vagina." He came out with them sounding just like a drill sergeant. That's my dad.

[Q] Playboy: Of course, he's really your stepdad. You paid him a tribute in a rap song on Shaq-Fu, Biological Didn't Bother, saying you consider him your true father. How did you find out the truth?

[A] O'Neal: My mother told me about my biological father when I was five. I said, "Where is he?" She said, "He was no good. So I left, and I met the Sarge." I thought about that for a while, then I said, "That's cool." I've never met my biological father. He tried to meet me. The team was in Chicago when a guy told me he saw my father on TV. I asked Mom why the Sarge was on TV and she said, "No, it was your biological father." He wanted to contact me. I think he wants money. I mean, he could have called from the time I was zero to 20. He lives in New Jersey where all my relatives are; he could have met me if he'd wanted to.

[Q] Playboy: Ever feel a genetic debt to him? The Sergeant's a big man, but he's no giant.

[A] O'Neal: My size is from my mother's side. My great-grandfather Johnny was a farmer in Dublin, Georgia, and he was 6'10". I have a grandma who's 6'4". My mother's brother is 6'7". Tall people.

[Q] Playboy: Is your biological father a big man?

[A] O'Neal: Don't know. I've never seen him.

[Q] Playboy: Not even during his media blitz? You see everything else on TV.

[A] O'Neal: I didn't see it!

[Q] Playboy: All right, we'll get back to the game. When did you find basketball?

[A] O'Neal: Eighth grade. My knees got better. I started watching games on TV, wanting to be Dr. J. While everybody else was getting in trouble I started sleeping with my basketball, dribbling the sidewalks doing my Dr. J. moves. In the winter I'd walk to the gym in the snow. This gym was only ten minutes away, but when it snowed hard you could barely get there. I'd get up, put on my dad's gloves and his Army boots and walk an hour to get there.

[Q] Playboy: And you were an instant star.

[A] O'Neal: I was lousy. The soldiers I played with were a lot older and they'd be yelling, "You're 6'7" and you're horrible! You'll never play. You might as well join the Army." But I kept playing. Finally I stopped being clumsy when I was 15. That's the first time I got my name in the paper. We won the U.S. Army European tournament, and people said, "He might be pretty good."

[Q] Playboy: The base was an American island in Germany. Did you get used to that?

[A] O'Neal: It was strange. Some of the people didn't want us there. They would sneak on the base and paint all the vehicles blue as a protest. Once I took an Army bus to a base in Czechoslovakia, and they were waiting, throwing eggs and bottles and sticks. It wasn't racial because I saw blacks in the crowd—half-blacks, anyway, from the times black soldiers would sneak off the base and party. I didn't get it—they didn't want us, but we were protecting them.

[Q] Playboy: After your stepfather was transferred to San Antonio, you led Cole High School to a 68-1 record over two years. We hate to quibble, but what happened on your bad night?

[A] O'Neal: I got four fouls in the first two minutes. When I came back in at the end, we were down by one. I shot two free throws with five seconds left in the game. Missed them both. That's the only time I ever cried.

[Q] Playboy: During the game the white players from Liberty Hills High School yelled racist taunts at you.

[A] O'Neal: No. Who says?

[Q] Playboy: It's true, isn't it?

[A] O'Neal: Well, yes, a lot of racist comments. "Go back to Africa." The N word. But losing hurt more.

[Q] Playboy: You seem cautious about your choice of words. Why would you avoid talking about racism?

[A] O'Neal: It doesn't do any good.

[Q] Playboy: How about corruption? What offers did you get from college basketball recruiters?

[A] O'Neal: None. They had heard about the Sarge. They knew I would tell him and they would be in trouble. And anyway, that's like selling a piece of your soul. I worked in the summer for eight dollars an hour and had a Pell grant for about $1400 a year, so I was OK. I went to college all by myself, you know. June 16, 1989, my first day at LSU—that was the day I grew up.

[Q] Playboy: There was a tornado in Baton Rouge that day.

[A] O'Neal: I was riding my bicycle when it hit. At first I thought it was just high winds. Then I saw the tornado coming down, right for me. I wasn't scared. It seemed like fun. I ran and ducked for cover and actually saw the tube of it going by—whoosh. That was the day I took a job at an industrial construction company. There wasn't anything going on, so I went up on the boss' roof—about 25 feet high—and jumped off.

[Q] Playboy: You leaped off a two-story building? What did you land on?

[A] O'Neal: My feet.

[Q] Playboy: Twenty-five feet is an exaggeration, isn't it?

[A] O'Neal: No, it's a house.

[Q] Playboy: You could have died.

[A] O'Neal: You get hurt only if you think you'll get hurt. I landed right. It's easy—you just hit soft, drop and roll.

[Q] Playboy: You said that you grew up at LSU----

[A] O'Neal: I lost my virginity there. I had my last fight. A football player and a basketball player were fighting over a girl, and I went to break it up. The football guy thought he was bad so he hit me. I hit him and then we had 100 football players against us 12, the basketball team, and we did all right. I came out markless. I'm no martial artist yet, but I'm so big and powerful—let's just say I can punch a hole in a wall. With ease.

[Q] Playboy: Any other college highlights?

[A] O'Neal: One day I wake up, I'm rubbing sleep out of my eyes, and there's Dr. J. standing over my bed. He was at LSU to give a talk. He took me to breakfast. He didn't have a lot of advice or anything, and I wasn't asking a bunch of questions. It was just that he was there, he wanted to see me. I'll never forget that.

[Q] Playboy: Last winter you met some other heroes. Weren't you snowed in at a hotel with the cast of Sesame Street Live?

[A] O'Neal: Chillin' and singing in the hotel bar with Grover, Big Bird and Oscar. They were stuck there, too. I started singing "Sun-ny day..." and they joined in. Pretty soon we had the whole bar singing.

[Q] Playboy: Grover was probably looped, but you don't drink, do you?

[A] O'Neal: Nah. I've seen what it does to people. Slobbering, falling down. I don't want to do that to my body. And you can party longer without it. Jordan's the same way—if you're out till two A.M. but you're not getting drunk, you won't be messed up the next day. On Christmas, New Year's and my birthday I'll have a glass of wine, but that's it. You want to know what my habit is? Miniature golf. We put in a real grass course in front of my house, but the grass died, so we're doing it over in Astroturf. My crew and I play for dinner or movie tickets. I generally win. You can tell Chi Chi Rodriguez or any of them to come to my house for goofy golf. I'm ready.

[Q] Playboy: The president is a golfer. Maybe you two could bet Treasury bills.

[A] O'Neal: I met Bill. He has a good, firm handshake. I met Bush, too. Those guys have it hard because nobody's on their side. It's all criticism.

[Q] Playboy: You met another heavyweight while he was in prison.

[A] O'Neal: I went to see Mike Tyson. Not to be political. I admire him as a fighter. I got into the prison and the guys looked so young. Some of them were younger than me. Tyson was bigger from doing push-ups. They wouldn't let him lift weights, so he was doing a whole lot of push-ups. He looked strong. We sat at a table and had a couple minutes of privacy. All he really told me was not to get in a place like that. "Stay out of trouble," he said.

[Q] Playboy: You're uneasy talking about race. How has it affected you since the Liberty Hills game?

[A] O'Neal: It hasn't, not personally. But I saw what happened to Rodney King. I saw the policemen who beat him get acquitted and I couldn't figure it. I thought about a basketball saying: "The tape don't lie."

[Q] Playboy: You had an encounter of your own with the LAPD.

[A] O'Neal: I was just driving in downtown L.A. about midnight. My stereo's loud but not that loud, and nobody's out there anyway. But I got pulled over. I guess they thought I was a hoodlum type—hat on backward, driving a nice Benz. So the cop starts yelling at me. "Where'd you get the car? Is it stolen?" I said, "No, I bought it in Beverly Hills. I paid $80,000 cash." He checked and since it was my car, all he could do was give me a ticket for my loud stereo.

[Q] Playboy: LAPD racism again?

[A] O'Neal: The cop was black. I was surprised because I always expect people to be nice if I'm nice and respectful to them, but at the same time I knew where he was coming from. My uncle's a police officer. I know what he goes through on the job. There's a typical thing that happens: If you pull over ten guys today and eight of them are bad guys, acting crazy and maybe planning to shoot you, you expect the next guy to be crazy too. If I had that job I'd probably be yelling at everybody.

[Q] Playboy: What if it had been a white cop? Would you be so understanding?

[A] O'Neal: I hope. I always try to think about all the consequences in anything that happens. You can't always do it. For instance, I slipped the other day. I did a Taco Bell ad—"I'm on fire"—with fire coming off me as I dunk. And I didn't think about burn victims. Now I'm hearing from them. This guy who represents burn victims says, "How could you?" I guess I screwed up. The special effects were so good I forgot everything else. Another time I messed up was when I bought a fur coat. I didn't think about animal rights groups. "Animal killer!" they called me.

[Q] Playboy: Did they throw any red paint on you?

[A] O'Neal: They wouldn't do that. We'd be fighting all day.

[Q] Playboy: Speaking of fighting, would you go to war for your country? Would you fight in Bosnia?

[A] O'Neal: No. And the reason is the same one Muhammad Ali had. Those people never called me Negro. And I also think it's a bad idea to fight on somebody else's turf. I've seen those Vietnam shows on TV, and that stuff is deadly. You're walking in the jungle, they got people in underground tunnels just waiting to reach out and pow!, you're dead. No thanks, it's not for me. Somebody wants to go to war, he can come to my house. I'll pop up from behind a couch and knock him right out.

[Q] Playboy: Ali was more outspoken than you—he actually used the word nigger. He also went to jail to avoid military service. Would you?

[A] O'Neal: I won't go to war.

[Q] Playboy: What would the Sarge think of that?

[A] O'Neal: Not much. The Sarge, oh yeah, he's war, war, war. He'd probably want me to fight, but I'm not a war man. I'm a lover, not a fighter.

[Q] Playboy: Has he mellowed as he's gotten older and you've gotten famous?

[A] O'Neal: He has. But he knows what I know—good things came to me when I started listening to him. We don't talk about it, but he knows.

[Q] Playboy: Do you say "I love you" to each other?

[A] O'Neal: Yeah. That's something we had to develop. He was the first to say it. It wasn't planned, it just happened one day. He came out with it. Now we can both say it.

[Q] Playboy: What about kids of your own? Will you spank them?

[A] O'Neal: I'm definitely going to have kids. And they'll get a good old-fashioned butt-whupping when they deserve it. I might be even harder than the Sarge. But not on a little girl if I have one, because they can do that thing to you. They cry and you just fall over and give them whatever they want.

[Q] Playboy: What's your proudest moment?

[A] O'Neal: When my mother and father call me and tell me they love me.

[Q] Playboy: You're both simpler and more complex than you appear. You're a reformed JD turned faithful son turned worldwide celeb, a Disney genie who won't be 25 till next spring. What's your secret?

[A] O'Neal: Playing possum. I like people to think I can't do something. That's when I'll sit back and chill. And observe. You shouldn't give away all your secrets, not all at once, but I think I could be almost anything. I could play pro baseball, no question. I can hit and I throw real hard. I'd be like Randy Johnson, the Big Unit. Maybe I'd be the Bigger Unit. As far as basketball goes I may sign the next contract, play it out and that could be it for the NBA. I'd still have acting. I'd have the business world. I might want to just chill with my children when I have them. I'm just trying to be intelligent. In a few years it'll be somebody else everybody wants to see and talk with, not me. Even the sun don't stay hot forever, you know? That's why I'm doing all I can while I'm hot, so later I can sit back and watch somebody else do it.

[Q] Playboy: You're nobody's shrinking violet.

[A] O'Neal: You know what it is? I don't like waking up on an off day and having nothing to do. It makes me uncomfortable. That's why I tell my agent, "Keep it coming. I'll tell you when I'm tired."

[Q] Playboy: Ever want to be alone?

[A] O'Neal: Someday I'll take a vacation. But it won't be alone. I'll take my boys with me, because it's not safe if you don't. You've got to be careful. There are people out there who aren't right in the head. There are stalkers. I don't want to get shot by somebody who hates me because he's crazy.

[Q] Playboy: When you're roaming around in your mansion late at night, when everyone else is asleep, what are you thinking?

[A] O'Neal: I thank God for blessing me. For helping me to not give up when people said I should just join the Army. Because I knew. I knew my hard work would pay off. And I'm still working. I raise my game every year. Last summer I worked on a hook shot and a turnaround. I took karate lessons, lifted weights to build my strength, because you need strength when guys are hanging on you, pinning down your arms. You have to be strong. And not scared.

[Q] Playboy: You're still trying to fly.

[A] O'Neal: Remember that three-story building we passed? No way would I jump off it, because there was a concrete sidewalk below. But I thought about it. If there were water down there, a swimming pool, I'd go do it right now. Yeah, easily. No joke. I promise you I'd do it.

[Q] Playboy: Why?

[A] O'Neal: For fun.

[Q] Playboy: What does scare you? Death? Referees?

[A] O'Neal: Nothing.

[Q] Playboy: Fess up.

[A] O'Neal: I told you I don't get scared.

[Q] Playboy: Never?

[A] O'Neal: OK. When I was little I thought our house was haunted. I'd go to bed with the closet door open, and the clothes looked like they were making faces at me. But to beat fear you gotta face fear. I knew that even then. So one night I jumped out of bed, ran over and punched them. Then I slammed the door.

[Q] Playboy: You weren't fearless after all.

[A] O'Neal: I was scared of frogs, too. I would watch this really big frog outside our house, and he scared me. The son of a bitch was just too slimy. Till one day I grabbed him, picked him up, squeezed him, just grossed myself out. Then I threw him back down.

[Q] Playboy: A rough day for the frog. Did he survive?

[A] O'Neal: Yeah, he did. We both did.

I was clumsy. Always flunked gym, right up to high school. Even now I can do only about ten push–ups.

In eighth grade, while everybody else was getting in trouble I started sleeping with my basketball.