Shaq AKA The Big Diesel Joins Q & D | Knuckleheads S3: E1 | The Players' Tribune

- This is a special message out there for all the Knucklehead fans out there. We take pride in protecting our guests and protecting our content. - We just want to address the fact that this episode was shot two days before the tragic passing of Kobe Bryant. We will not be discussing or talking with Shaq about anything pertaining to the tragic loss of Kobe Bryant. We would like to send our sincerest condolences and prayers out to the Bryant family and all families impacted by this tragedy. - All right man, we on location. ATL shawty, we got the blackest one with me and this time we got the biggest, baddest, the most dominant ever our big dawg, our OG, Shaquille, I means excuse me, Doctor Shaquille O'Neal. - [Darius] Diesel. - What's up fellas. - Big fella. - [Shaq] Nice to be here with y'all. - [Quentin] Hey man, this a privilege boy, we got the baddest man ever pulling down backboards on 'em. - [Darius] Check us out. (theme music) But can we toast? - [Shaq] Yeah we can toast. - Yeah, with the big dawg. - I just want to say I'm proud of y'all. And did you realize when we was playing I never messed with y'all? You noticed that right? - No, you gave us a pass, you told us. - I did, yeah and I never messed with you I told you do what you do. I never tried to block your shots. You know that right? - I tried to tip dunk on the free throw line one time, you said, "I like you, don't ever do that again "'cause I can hurt your whole face." (laughs) He was like, "Don't ever try me like that, "I ain't expect you to try that." He was like, "Don't ever do that again." - I remember I blocked your shot and he was like do it again. - Oh stop it, you ain't blocked my shot. You fouled me. - He was like do it again so I came and tried to week side block your shot again. You threw it to Robert Horry, he dunked the shit out that motherfucker (laughs). It was like you set me up. - You know what happened to me a couple weeks ago that was strange? Keith Closs pulled me aside. - [Quentin] You told me about this when we was in the studio. - And he's apologizing, I said what you apologizing for? He said man, I just want to say it. I supposed to say bro, that was 20 years ago. But he's, shot out to Keith Closs, - [Quentin] Shot out. - But he didn't have to do that, 'cause I don't know what people thought it was with me on the basketball court, but whenever I stepped off the basketball court, y'all know I wasn't that type of fella. - Exactly. - He pulled me to the side. He was like hey, I need to holler at you. I was like, I'ma have to knock him out. (laughs) I'ma have to knock him out. He was like man I just wanted to apologize. He's like a different guy. - No, he is I, I, I. - He's really. - He turned hisself around than what he was. - Yeah he did, so shot out to Keith Closs. - Straight up. - Where your boy at Allahquande, where he at? - Olowokandi (laughs) - Whatever Alowakandi, Olowokandi, - The last time I heard (laughs) the last thing I heard about Olowok was Keyon Dooling was telling me that he was back overseas I want to say in London, like in - Doing what? - I don't know he said he was doing something, doing what, you know he, Olowok came from money, he came over here on some Prince Hakeem type joint like that-- - Oh so he was already rich. - Yeah he was already rich - Bro, you never knew his story? No, he was Prince Hakeem. He for real like, oh, you gotta go to America and get a education. - That was prince of Zumunda. - He did the whole globe thing, like no I want to go where the water and the beaches is that's why he went to Pacific. They found him on campus just walking around bro. He was just walking around and coach said bring your ass in here and then next thing you know number one pick. - Oh, he already had money. - Yeah he ain't really hoop or nothing like that. - Straight up, so he back over there doing-- - Know what, he told me that one day in a game. - Yeah, he was like he don't really hoop like that. - He said, Shaq - [Darius] He wound up being the number one pick. - Yeah, yeah, he said Shaq you think you the man but I got more money than you. I was like I don't think so brother. - His parents, like I don't know like that - [Darius] He got beaucoup, I don't know what they got. - But like when he, that was always his thing when he first got here he used to be like, really, like I'm already straight. - He was driving Aston Martin's and all that stuff. - [Quentin] Rookie deal. - Rookie deal. - Straight out the gate. - Damn. - The first question we always ask everybody when they come on the show, when you first got to the league who was the first person to bust yo ass? - Well a lot of people bust my ass but I take pride in playing what's that 19 years and only being dunked on three times. So the first person to dunk on me was Derrick Coleman. - Derrick Coleman. - Yeah, drop step with the left hand. A lot of people bust my ass. Ewing bust my ass, Robinson bust my ass, Hakeem bust my ass, like all the big guys bust my ass and then a couple sorry guys bust my ass, like I couldn't stop Big Country for some reason. - Big Country. - Bryant Reeves. - I couldn't stop him at all. I don't know what it was, he used to eat my ass up every game. - Had big games against him. - Every game, him and who else? Michael Doleac, you remember Doleac? - Doleac. - Yeah, Doleac, I remember the first time when we came back from LA to play Orlando Doleac hit me for like 25. So, but the first person to dunk on me was Derrick Coleman, second person Tim Perry got me baseline. - Wow, Philly. - And then Michael Jordan. See I been, I got about 30 dunk-bys, I got about seven not paying attention tip dunks but dunk on chest to chest, balls to balls (laughs) - Like I was there. - I only got one or two of them and I take pride in that. - So coming out, like I know you traveled a lot and so forth, what made you choose the high school you chose, what made you choose Colt? - I didn't choose it, you know when you go from military base to military base and you live on a base, you have to go to that school. When I first got to San Antonio everybody was it ain't gon' be no competition at that school, you playing against guys 5'1", 5'2" you need to go to a bigger school. I tried that but my father told me something very important, he said when you good they'll come to you. - They gon' find you. - That's what my mom told me. - So when I got to San Antonio we had a gym and it had one side with bleachers, but not really bleachers like a seat, a seat, a seat and then a wall. - Right. - First year we went 35 and one, second year we went 36 and O. But I noticed that as we start playing and everybody start hearing bout me, the gym start getting packed. - Packed, packed, filling up. - Bring in more seats. - Yeah and then they had to bring more seats and then people be sitting outside and they had to get like a jumbotron and like put the things outside. And I was like my pops is right. And then, all the stuff they used to say like well, he ain't playing against nobody so even though I was playing at the school, I used to go to the gym and play with the grown men. - [Darius] The grown men. - And I used to have to walk through the hood, the Spanish hood, fight and play on the East side and then come back but once my name hit the paper the little Spanish homies they was like, "You know what, we mess with you, holmes, go head" and I had a pass to walk through. - They was coming to the games-- - Yeah they was, yeah, yeah. - You won holmes. - They was like, "You know what (speaks foreign language). We like you holmes go 'head." So I got a pass, shot out to the Ramos boys 'cause I used to have to fight those boys everyday in San Antonio. - Ramos boys, I know you chose LSU was it any possibility anybody else could have got you? - I didn't like people telling me stuff that sounded too good, 'cause I never heard that before. - A lot of us. - Breaking a sophomore I wasn't that good right, junior year, okay, senior year, now I'm starting to make a name for myself. So now they was treating me like Jordan, I was like, I'm good but I'm not that good yet. So I went to North Carolina, Rick Fox showed me around, it was too, let me say this without being disrespectful, it wasn't hood enough for me, it was too, - Chapel Hill. - Yes, it was too, hey sir (laughs) I don't like that. So, I went to North Carolina State Jim Valvano, actually it was a guy at North Carolina State his name was Charles Shackleford, - I remember him. - I took his whole shit. - Big fella. - He was Shaq first. So like I took his whole thing so I'm like I'm not going to play next to him, there can't be two Shaqs, I didn't want to go there. I went to Illinois, Nick and Kendall Gill, they showed me a good time. - I never knew you been to Illinois. - Yeah, but it was too cold. I was like it's too cold up there - Straight up. - and then where else I go? I went to UNLV, and it was too scary. It was just like too fast, they was taking me out and clubs and this and then when I went to LSU. I was like, this is the place I want to be. It was close to home, y'all know what type of women I like, all of 'em sitting right there. And they actually set me up. So they put me in the middle of a football game and we was winning and then the lights went off and they was like Baton Rouge if you want the gentlemen from San Antonio, Texas, Shaquille O'Neal to come to LSU make some noise so they put the lights back on me, all the girls was looking at me, I was like, I was like - Sold! (laughs) - This where I'm going LSU, yeah so I went to LSU plus when I was 13, Dale Brown offered me a scholarship, 'cause at 13 I was 6'9" I couldn't play, couldn't dunk. He was like, you know what I believe in you. I'ma give you a scholarship. So, that's why I chose LSU. - When you got to LSU, there's a player thats to this day right now he's playing basketball, it was Chris Jackson, now it's Abdul-Rauf. - He was the best player I'd ever seen in my life. - Boy! - And this was the same conversation I was having with my son the other day. I said me and you are similar what I mean by that is our basketball careers there's peaks and valleys. Started off not so good, became pretty good, now you go to high school you not so good. Senior year, you win a state championship. Now you go to college, you not really playing. You got to figure that out. So, I was the man in high school but when I got to LSU, I didn't get no playing time and I understood why. Stanley used to kill me everyday, everyday. Chris Jackson was the man so I just had to figure it out. The day I said F this stuff, - I'ma be the man. FTS, I'ma be the man, - This my team. - That's the day I started flourishing so a lot of times when you see somebody that's above you and then you strike 'em and you see their blood flow, you realize that they're human also. Like Stan used to kill me all day but one day 'cause see a lot of people ain't know I had handles right. So one day, Chris missed, I take it off the break all the guards are covered, I go coast to coast Stanley running side by side and I Dominique double pumped that thing on his ass and everybody was going crazy and I was like, oh okay. - He can't run with me. - Yeah, he can't run, yeah he's a human. Once I figured that out then it was easy for me so I always try to tell my son the same thing but Chris he's, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, I don't want to disrespect but yeah. He was the first guard, 'cause you know big guys like to post in the middle while you all shooting. He was the first guy that when he didn't throw it to me, I couldn't get mad cause he always made it. - He always made the shots. - He always made 'em so I was like damn, yeah he was cold. - So you go to LSU and you have a, you build this hype and you become the next best thing and you get drafted by Orlando Magic, - City beautiful - did you think it was, I know they had the number one pick. Did you think it was a possibility that they wouldn't pick you and you would go somewhere else? - I didn't care. I think it's safe to say I'm the only guy, did you guys have to try out? - Yes. - Yes. - I didn't have to try out. I told 'em I'm not trying out because in my mind I knew that Alonzo was better than me defensively and Christian Laettner had all the stuff that they make you do at the bullshit camps, - Right. - all that, all that stuff that don't mean nothing once you get in the game. So I told 'em I said look, I ain't trying out for nobody. I know I'm one, two or three. Whoever pick me, I'm going to work. 'Cause my motivation was this. Soon as I get this check, we going up, up wherever to the gated community and I'ma say momma pick one. It ain't gon' be no mortgages, it ain't gon' be no down payments. - Paying for all that. - So that, that I'm a handle that first so when I got to Orlando, we went up to Lake Mary and I did just that. I said pick one. She said, oh I think this is good for you. I said this ain't for me, this is for you. So, I don't care where I went. I'ma take care of my momma house first and ain't nobody gon' take that away from me. So that was my motivation when I first got in. I thought about it, cause that's why like if you look at the draft they said Shaq is the first pick, I was like who me? Cause there was a bunch chatter that they was going to get Laettner, or get Alonzo but it didn't matter to me 'cause I already knew what I was going to do. - That year they created the dream team and everybody and they momma expected you to be - [Quentin] Erroneous. - on that dream team but you had Christian Laettner who just had a great career at Duke and they chose Christian Laettner. Tell me what you thought about that whole situation of you not getting the opportunity to play with Mike and Magic and Bird on that dream team. - See they had a whole bunch of awards they was giving out. He was winning some in college, I was winning some. I think I won player of the year that year, - Yeah, you did. I'm not sure but I don't get mad, I get even. 'Cause my whole life, especially as a youngster, You ain't that good. Now I got to show you. So, it's just, it's just the same thing that I was already used to. So, I'm kinda glad I didn't go, 'cause I think if I'd have went it would have made me a little cuter coming in. - Straight up. - So the fact that I didn't go, Magic, remember Magic used to have that run every morning. I was there every morning. Every morning, ten o'clock running. Just learning the game, running me and Magic on the break so I knew when I got into the league I was going to be in tip top shape and I was going to be ready and I was going to let the world know my name. So I was upset but I don't get mad, I get even. - So talk about once you got drafted right, like you came through the door and literally ever since, you've probably been the most, I mean obviously you've, in my opinion, the most dominant force in the league, but I want to talk about the endorsements. Since day one, have you ever spent any of your NBA contracts or has it been all just been endorsement money? Because right now, even now you still running away like you know how there's some people be like I want to do this or that-- - To answer your question it's called marriage, divorce and children so hell yeah I spent some of that money, that's real, I spent a lot of it but, so when I was in college, I failed marketing class. 'Cause I used to sit around and dream. I said shit, Mike got some, he got the jump man, let me go and create the dunk man, so I already had it in college and in my mind I was like if I can get, just get on to that other side I'ma try to get a shoe, t-shirts, jackets, all that stuff so in marketing class, the guy said all right present us something that can be sold in the future so I came with Shaq shirts, Shaq underwear, Shaq towel, Shaq everything and the guy embarrassed me in class he said, I see you put a lot into this Mr. O'Neal but it's not good enough. And I said why? He said if you look at the climate of the NBA, big guys don't sell. And he made a good point I was like damn, big guys don't sell, at that time it was only Magic and Bird doing commercials. So I went back and I was like damn, I ain't never going to get my own shoe, I ain't never going to get nothing, I'ma be like all the other big guys. And as I'm sitting in my room chilling, this dumb ass dog kept coming on TV. Spuds MacKenzie and he had everything. So then I was like that's the stupidest commercial ever then I go to the store, he got cups, - Everything. - he got hats, I go to another store, so he got LSU Spuds so I go back and I'm there like why they like this dog? And they like the dog because everything he did was funny. So I said, okay if I ever get commercials, I'm a funny guy I just gotta make people laugh. 'Cause my secret is not to sell you the product but make you remember the product, like this right here, it'll be us fighting over the drinks and then all of us will fall out the window. That shit'll go viral right? And they'd be like yo, what was they fighting over? They was fighting over Hennessy. See, and that's how you do it. - Hennessy, you hear that? Come on man look, come out and fight and we fall out the window. - Things like that so, like I try to I try to create all my own commercials and I try not to get involved or invest in a product that I don't believe in. See like a lot of people think these things are endorsements but a lot of companies I'm involved with I own a piece of it. - Well I got to ask you one thing. Can you introduce me to The General 'cause insurance high as a motherfucker and I need-- - You know why I mess with The General? See like people like, oh he just taking, life if you look at me from the outside, you don't know me, you just think I'm doing a lot of these things for money. When I was in college, everybody had a car but me. Chris had a car, Stan had a car and I don't know how they got their car. That ain't the point. But I'm a do my shit the right way. Ain't nobody gon' give me nothing so I see this Ford Bronco Two for 49 hundred. Hey dad I need a thousand, hey I need a thousand. So, I finally get 5000, it was burgundy. Get it, go to the guy, I said hey man I been wanting this car. He said, Shaq yeah, I'll move the seat back for you so he said before I give you the keys you need some insurance, I was like what the fuck is insurance? (laughs) What's insurance? So I went to all the other insurance, 120 a month, 30 a month, I'm like damn, I'ma have to go get my money back or I just can't get this car. So, then the last place I went by was The General, my insurance was $19 a month, full coverage. Not the full, full coverage but enough, crash and all that stuff so, that's why I mess with The General because before I was the character known as Shaq, they took care of me. That's why I'm with The General. - That's dope. - You grew up on The General. - I'm with Gold Bond because we as black people everybody need lotion. You guys know that Icy Hot work, so Zale's Jewelry, I like bling Forto little coffee shots give you energy. - [Quentin] I actually got one of those. - Ring, affordable security. This is my first time not living like a spoiled brat what I mean by that I'm living out amongst the people so I call these people, Hey man, this is Shaq let me get the security company. So the dude come by, 10,000 square foot house, 30 acres, well it's going to be about 60,000. Not paying that. 'Cause the older we get, gotta be smarter with the money when it comes down. - Yeah. - Not doing that, called another guy. He said 30,000 so I go to Best Buy just to get some TVs and I see this little Ring camera and I get it. I just hooked it up myself, I didn't even know if it worked. I'm in China a fly go by the house and the thing hits me, I'm like damn, this shit work. (laughs) So when I came back I just got the whole house in Ring so when I went to CES and met with the owner, I said man listen, you in Best Buy, you doing a good job but my people don't know about what you doing here. He's like, "What do you mean?" Let me invest in the company, let me do some commercials, let me help get the word out. And he sold the company to Amazon for a lot of money, so a lot of times I like to just use myself to build stuff up. - Back in the day of your era, before our era, they used to tell NBA players if you did too much outside of the game, it's like you not focusing on the game, or if I'm doing too many commercials or he don't care about the game or he don't care about winning or so forth. At some point did that discourage you where you slowed down a little bit, before you won a championship and then got back to it later? - It only slowed me down in 2000 'cause I promised Phil I wouldn't do it. So, now that I'm not doing, I did one or two commercials but now that I was slowing down and I was winning I was like okay, this must be the way so second time, slowed down, third time slowed down but before that no, I'm not going to slow down and the reason is we don't come from a lot. So when we get the opportunity the correct opportunity to get a lot, you always have to take advantage of that. - Take advantage of it. - Like people, oh you did Kazaam, forget Kazaam that's seven million. Blue Chips that's three million. Listen, I'm not no movie star. I'm not trying to - Perfect Score. - I ain't trying to do all that, it's an opportunity like, we all from the hood we used to watch people on TV, now people get to watch us on TV. So, you know a lot of times we get too caught up in what other people say about what we doing but I'ma always take advantage of the correct opportunity because where we come from there's two opportunities. There's the correct opportunity - And the wrong. - And the wrong opportunity, so as long as we take advantage of the right opportunities I don't really care about the outcome. - Speaking of that, so when you got drafted I know you took moms to got her the crib, what did you get? The king of toys. - Yeah you know I like my toys. I always tell people this story and it's a true story so the first money I got even before I got drafted was a card signing deal. - Right a card deal. - It was a million dollars. - Oh it wasn't no million for us though, excuse me it was a couple thousand something real light. - So I said, I got to go get the black on black 500 sitting on them 19 inch hammers. - Sitting on them things. - Two doors. - No four doors, I had the four door. 150, I had no negotiating skills I go in there, how much? 150 (knocks) - (laughs) Boss. - Move the seat back a couple inches, call me. Rolled around the hood what's popping? "Oh man, you going be in the (mumbles)" I don't know dawg, whatever, I get home my dad was like, that's nice, where's mine at? Now I'm not the smartest guy in the world so I know a million minus 150, shit I got 850 left. - Right. - Hop in pops, we go, he get the same joint I get, black on black, we get the little German plate it say Shaq's Dad in the front of that thing, so we rolling, we get home my mom, where's mine at? She don't want the big, she want the little one. So I got 700 left, her's cost a hundred, I got 600 left so after I drop him off, I drop it off, you know I got to get that boom, boom, boom (laughs) - Bass it. - You know I got to get that. I went to the jewelry shop I bought some Allen Iverson's, I bought a dookie rope chain, I bought a nugget chain, I bought a two finger ring I had to, I got a high rise, San Antonio, paid that off for the year, the next couple days, the bank manager called me Shaq I need you to come to the bank. And when I came to the bank he said, look man, I don't want you to be like everybody else and he showed me. And I was like, yeah I did this, I did this, I did this, then I was like who the fuck is FICA? FICA had took like 300,000, like no, I don't know, I don't know FICA you know, you trying to set me up. He said no man FICA is the money that the government takes out so I had no idea, I didn't know nothing about that. - You didn't know the government even taxing your money. - I didn't know nothing about none of that. So I was like, so after that I was like, you know what I gotta start being smart. I really do have to start being smart. So I went, I had my guy bring me the five top financial advisors and I remember reading in Kareem's book because my dad was the type that whenever an athlete did something crazy I would get in trouble. (laughs) No seriously, the worst ass whooping in my life was when Len Bias died. My father came in the house and went crazy. If I ever see you mess around with coke I'm a kill you. And I was like, I drink Pepsi bro. (laughs) I was 13, he was crying like it was his son. He was like sit down, watch this. I said I never did drugs, that's why I never drink. It was just like, if I get caught, my father gonna kill me. So we interviewed the top five people and there was one guy that was like I can do this, I can do this, I was like, I like him. A matter of fact, he used to manage Eazy E's money. So that's when I, that's why I chose him, you know Lester right? - Yeah. You know Les, my Lester? No, you probably don't know Lester. He's a little short white guy and he was cool. All the other guys, oh I can do this, I can do that, I don't like people that talk fast. I don't, not at all. - That fast talk boy. - You win rookie of the year and you have successful years at Orlando but it seems like you missing a piece to kind of get over that edge, you do a movie called Blue Chips. You get the opportunity to meet Anfernee Hardaway before he's ever played an NBA game. - I'm the type that I don't care about no other players I don't even look at 'em. I know what I got to do. I know the money I'ma get. Never knew who Penny Hardaway was because I'm doing what I'm doing so we playing and they keep putting us on the same team. I'm like damn this, I'm like this actor, he cold. (laughs) I'm telling you like I would run and every time I'd do like this I'm like he cold. And then finally somebody said, that's Penny Hardaway man. I was like who the fuck Penny Hardaway? They said man he probably going to be the third pick. 'Cause I knew we had the first pick but behind closed doors D Scott always telling me Man, this your team, you gotta take over. See I never been the guy to come in the office and say do this, do that. Eventually, I had to become that to get my way. He said, man you gotta do it, you gotta do it. So after playing with him all summer, I was like, let me try this out. So I went to the office, John Gabriel I said John, the draft is coming up, Scott Skiles was cool but I'm envisioning the next Magic and Kareem. There's a guy named Penny Hardaway I've been with him all summer, if you don't draft him I'ma be looking to do something else when my deal is up. And I walked away but I was scared when I said it I was like, (breathing hard) (laughs) I was terrified. So then I'm watching the draft at the crib, me and D Scott, and they pick C Webb and I tear my house up. Break a TV, oh they disrespecting me, now I gotta go whoomp, whoomp, whoomp whoo (laughs) And then I calmed down and then they made the trade and I was like damn, this works. And we had a good year and of course we lose and I'm watching the Bulls, Horace Grant doesn't like being in Chicago and I'm all, hey John get me Horace Grant now or I'ma think about doing something else by the time my deal is up. - Did you call him on the Nino though? - Oh yeah, you know I did. - Okay, make sure you call him on the Nino. - We got Horace, now we was on our way. And we made it to the Finals and it was my fault that we lost because I knew we could beat Mike. I wasn't scared anymore. Said it on TNT the other day I was scared but after I saw he was human and then I'm not guarding him anyways, he gon' get his anyway. He gon' get his but we got to slow the other guys and then these big bums that are guarding me I'm just going to do what I do and I gotta, they gon' start hack-a-Shaqing I got to knock 'em down so I knew we could beat 'em and then when we beat 'em, we had like ten days off me and D Scott was whiling, heroes, downtown Orlando, (laughs) - 3D Leaving. - Private jet to Miami, all that. - Sure was Paradise. - Because we beat Houston that year, you know Hakeem will get his, I get mine but it wasn't no, you know so we was like, man we, I got him. He gon' put up his numbers but he gon' have to guard me too and then in the Finals he was just a different beast, I was like damn, this a different Hakeem right here. - Let me ask you this. You chose them to make the big move on getting Penny, to see the success that Penny was getting and how he was playing, how proud are you of him of that to be like man, I chose, I seen that in him that he could be something. - No, it was great and that's what I always tell the youngsters, no matter what, you gotta stick together because we let them break us up, whoever them may be. But it was always oh this is Penny's team, it's Shaq's. It was always that little stupid stuff right? So then when Penny got it, wanted to get some new money which was more than mine, I was like go head, take care of him, like I stood for him because I understand the game. If a BMW costs 115, what you think a Benz gon' cost? So I was like pay him, 'cause my shit coming up right after his and you gon' have to pay me too so I was like, hey take care of him. So I took up for him. When it came time for me to get mine, nobody stood up for me and I was like oh okay, all right. - [Quentin] Ain't that bout a bitch. - And then, I felt the change a little bit and I was already in LA all summer anyway, I was like you know what? I'ma do something different, I'ma do something different and it turned out to be the best decision of my life. - To make the decision to go to LA? - Yeah. - So when you get to LA and you have all this talent and you trying to put it together but them first couple years you just didn't get over that hump, how did you feel? - 'Cause we all were too happy. You remember how LA was? Monday Improv, Tuesday Comedy Store, Wednesday Georgia's, Thursday The Gate, across the street, - Las Palmas. - Yeah, Las Palmas right, Sunday, Century City, it was just too much going on and-- - [Quentin] That's crazy. - We just didn't focus and then you got to the point where everybody start pointing at me. Shaq doing this, Shaq doing that, so I was like okay, let me, let me use my powers again. This coach ain't gon' work. This coach ain't gon' work. Bring me Phil Jackson. We don't know-- Bring me Phil Jackson man! Or when my deal up, I'll be looking to do something else. So they bring in Phil, Phil have a conversation. Phil say, it is your fault, say you, I watch you but you don't go to the next step. I say what do you mean by that? He said, the only thing Michael did was play, do his thing is play, so I don't mind you doing your thing and play but Michael don't do this, and do that, and he said if you guarantee me that you'll just do what Michael used to do you're going to not only get MVP and win, so I said all right cool and I did it and it worked. So I just got tired of hearing it was my fault and then always wanting to be that guy that people said was really good. I don't want to be the guy that oh he did this, he did that but I never wanted to have a but behind my name so it was just at that time and then Kobe was coming into his, his Killa and we were very tough to beat. - Talk about that, that three year stretch though, how, how that was 'cause like you say we was the little brothers, we was right there in LA watching this whole thing, watching y'all dominate regardless, like you say, regardless of whatever the story line was outside, when y'all got on the court it was pure dominance, like how was that, being a part of that like you had to go in every game knowing, like yeah this is just-- - It felt good 'cause you know how it is coming from where we coming from when they beat us up, beat us up, beat us up beat us up, and then when we start knocking people out so let's just say we knocked somebody out and they still don't respect you. As soon as I got the first championship I was done. I was thinking 'bout hey, I'm done. I got a lot of money. Let me invest in a team, let me do something else. So, I got him with the baby, with Shareef and all them and we watching ESPN and they disrespect me, oh they got a championship can they do it again? Are they a dynasty, they're not a dynasty, so now I'm mad, going through something all right let me go on and get one more. One more, same thing, oh well Magic and Kareem there's still the best duo and oh, they got a three peat, I'm like (exhales) so let me go on and do it again. And then we lost one year and then I called in Karl and Gary created that super team and we made it to the Finals and then we didn't win. So at three, I was like you know what I'm good, I'ma go on and just play my career out and then they disrespect me again. Trade me, so I go in the office and I flex my power again I said okay, you want to trade me but I'm going to Miami. No, we gon', no, no, no it ain't going to work like that. I'm going to Miami. Why you want to go to Miami? Don't worry about it. You can trade me, it's done, it's his team y'all can have it, I appreciate it you, love you, boom, boom, boom, I'm going to Miami. 'Cause I saw something in D Wade. I saw like a mixture of Penny and Kobe but he ain't have no help with him. So you get me down there with him getting double or triple teamed and that's going to open it up for him, so that was my envision and then I called up a few of the homies, Hey Pose, I need you, GP, Antoine what's up dawg, yeah, yeah they disrespecting us so it was a bunch of old has beens that we had put together and that was, that was good. And then after I got the fourth one, again oh Kobe got four, again, Kobe got five so I admit my last couple years I was ring chasing just to get five but, then when I had that career ending injury I was like it's over for me 'cause I didn't feel right averaging eight, nine points that ain't me. Like I have to give it up to Dwight, he's really playing good but I can't do that. I can't be averaging no six, seven points. - In the situation with Penny and the situation with Kobe, did that prepare you for the situation with D Wade? - I was tired of it so when I got to Miami I just gave it up. I said it's your team dawg, it's your team. Your team, I'm the big advisor. I'm following you. You just get tired of it, cause you realize that in the long run it's a useless title, it's your team, what does that mean? - [Darius] Right? - You the man, what does that mean? - Ego. - Don't mean nothing right? Don't mean nothing, so I was like here man, so I told him problems that happened with me and Penny problems that happened with me and Kobe, I said, that could never happen with me and you. This your shit, I'ma sit back. - Speaking on them three guys right, I had a thing, I was thinking about it yesterday and I'm like yo, I got to ask you so we do start, bench, cut, right? So I want you to tell me, who you start, bench, cut between these three duos. You and Penny, you and Kobe or you and D Wade? (laughs) Start, bench, cut, I know what I would do but I just want to hear it from the man himself that was there, you know how Cam'ron say you wasn't there, you was there. - I think Penny would understand this. I'm just looking at wins and rings. - [Darius] Yeah, but you didn't win with him. So, I got three with Kobe, so you got to start him. I got one with D Wade, he coming off the bench. Me and Penny had the opportunity to get one but we couldn't get one so I got to cut Penny. That's no disrespect to neither one of those guys 'cause I love playing with all those guys but to answer this little silly game that y'all put me in that I know gonna go viral (laughs) I just want to let you know Penny I'm not disrespecting you I'm just playing the game but based on that Championship winning criteria it has to be like that. - Do you feel like Magic is the best Laker ever? - No, they say Kobe is. - [Darius] They say Kobe is? - But I mean like, you know it has to be - [Quentin] 20 years. - 20 years, all the records, again, like you have to base it on what you looking at. You know Magic's probably the nicest Laker besides me, but when it comes to the overall love and overall great stuff that's been done Kobe has a lot of game winners a lot of moments so probably him. - [Darius] I feel like you and-- - And a lot of people, no, I never wanted to be the best, that's what y'all don't understand about me. - I know you don't want to be the best but I feel like with you and Kobe, y'all one of the best duos ever to be created if not the best. - No not one of the best, the best most enigmatic duo ever created, big, little 'cause there's a lot of duos but the big, little, we were the best. - That's what I was going to say, big little, they bar none. - Best duo, I definitely agree with that. - But people need to understand about my game, I don't want to be the best, that's not what I wanted to do. I want to intimidate you, make you quit, elbow you in your face, draw blood and win championships. I'm not trying to like being the best it too much work. I do what I had to do to get the job done, see what I'm saying? - Yeah, I often referred like people could say, whatever the best, I've referred to you as the most dominant, it's no, like you said, it's no disrespect to Bill Russell, to Wilt, to Kareem or none of them. - I appreciate that. - But I just feel like I played against you in your prime and knew how strong you were, I feel like I don't give a damn what none of them was doing when you turned and put that thing on 'em it ain't nothing they could do. - Or when you sealed under the goal, that shit over. - Everybody gon' break or fall at that will, it ain't like, once you drop anchor, it's a wrap. - I argue with my friends all the time and I'll be like, yeah I know Hakeem, a lot of people will say Hakeem had a better series than you when y'all played him in the Finals early then but I was like that Hakeem Olajuwon going the Laker Shaq is two different players. - Two different players. - And I was like the Lakers Shaq was so fucking dominant it was like once you get, your whole team get beat up by you, if we happen to be close, Kobe'll end it for us so it was like it's crazy, you always my favorite center, - [Shaq] I appreciate that. - best center ever I ever seen and just dominant, just your attitude because you were so good off the court personality wise like you showed so much love to guys like us 'cause we was Clippers like, you know what I'm saying and we wasn't the most popular or nothing like that when we got in and soon as we met you you showed us love, but you was so vicious when it came to it between the lines. How can you switch that up? - Family, they giving this money away and I'm going to get it. When I came in I was like okay, 'cause believe it or not I wanted to be Garnett. I got all, y'all seen me take a cold, I got all that, I wanted to fade up, shoot threes I want to do all that but when I'm Patrick Ewing and I go like this and he move, I'm like oh, we have something here and I go against Robinson and I do that and they fly I'm like, oh okay. They don't like that funk, let me, let me let me establish this, just let me do this. Look, I wanted to fade away and cross people up, and matter of fact, I crossed your boy up one time. - [Darius] Olowok. - Yeah Olowok, remember that game. Yeah, I got that, (grunts) cross 'em up. - On the baseline, yes. - So like I wanted to do that the whole game but that was my niche just to beat people up and again I wasn't trying to be the best, I was just trying to win. - When we first got to the Clippers, they showed us this tape the year before I think you had like 60. - On your birthday. - Yes, on my birthday. - On your birthday on Keith Closs and all them, so when we looking at the game we like we playing the Lakers this year, we like oh shit. This motherfucker just, he ain't shoot no threes, no jumpers it's just-- - You know what happened? So I get there and I say hey man I need ten tickets. Oh you got to pay. - Cause it was the Clippers home game. - I said man this motherfucker empty man. I said all right no problem. They charged me like 10 stacks. Man, I was so mad. I told Kobe no, ain't nobody shooting but me. And then another thing that made me mad a lot of people don't know this Kareem was y'all assistant coach. Every time I touched the ball he put his head down. 'Cause I remember one time I got the ball, I'm like oh shit Kareem looking at me, I'm bout to hit 'em with the sky hook and point at him and let him know I love 'em. Motherfucker put his head down like this the whole time. So I did the little jump hook, you know got the rebound every time I was down there he put his head down so I was like, oh Kareem don't know my name. He don't know my name, but he gon' know it tonight. So I'm a real sensitive guy but again I don't get mad, I just get even. Cause whenever you say I can't do something I'ma just go do it. - [Darius] You want to prove 'em, prove 'em wrong. - So do you, I want to ask you this, do you remember-- - [Shaq] Pulling you over? - Not pulling, that too but New Year's Eve, we came to your crib and this was in what Beverly Hills right? And I don't even remember how we even bumped into you but then like, like you said, - [Darius] You was like come to the crib. - You was showing love like come, we go to the crib, we like yo, we at Shaq's crib - [Darius] We see Mystikal in that joint. - Yeah, Mystikal was there, I'll never forget you had a pocket full of money, your homeboy we was all in there like first of all, you had freaking movies - You was filming action movies - that was like private home made movies that you made with your homeboys at the crib in Orlando with the afro and you flipping all over - Them karate movies. (laughs) - With ninjas with stuff, dawg you had an afro, I'm like, what the hell you had literally like a whole personal movie so, whatever we watching that but one of your homeboys can't remember his name, Spanish dude, but you bet him, had a bottle of, brand new bottle of the orange Alize, I bet you can't drink that, all that right there. - [Shaq] Yeah, he drunk it. - Man turned that thing upside down and didn't stop 'til he was done and you gave him the money. Bout 15 minutes later he was faded - Yeah, he was faded. - but he was live. He did it and I was like, I can't believe this but I was like I'll always remember like he said, you showed us major love and for us, we was like 18, 19 like we hanging with Shaq, bro I can't, we try and call all our homeboys, notify 'em, like we with him, like he talking, he calling us our name and stuff, like-- - 'Cause what y'all didn't understand is that y'all were me, and I see a lot of big time cats that don't show no love I never wanted to be like that. We all from the hood, we all got brothers we all got cousins. We all done seen some shit we weren't supposed to see at that age, right? So, I ain't want to be that guy so whenever I saw y'all I just always had to show y'all love - Like Q always-- - Because one, I liked how y'all played. Like y'all always played like y'all wasn't scared which I really like respect that. Like y'all wasn't gon' stop old boy, but he wasn't going to stop y'all neither. And that's why every time I played against y'all I was like yo man, go to work stop messing around. - Yeah word up. - Coach want me to double, I ain't doubling kill his ass, go at him. - Like Q always say but too like I never wanted to be the asshole like you look up to somebody and you finally get the opportunity to meet the person that you looked up to and they just be a total fucking asshole. - No, I can't ever do that to y'all. - No, I gotta give you love on that 'cause to a man, not just us but damn near everybody we meet, when we talk about you like you definitely are that picture (Shaq fake cries) of like man, when mom's meet you it's the way you want it to be, you don't want it to be like this dude a asshole and he a sucker. But you know what I'm saying like - Thank you. - Big fella show love to everybody and it's always reciprocated 'cause everybody we talk to like man, everybody got a story. You want it to be like that, like D saying we, I try to go out of my way to be cool with everybody all the time, clearly we ain't on the level no where near with you but like everybody we talk to got a dope story about when they first met Shaq and it ain't no weak shit and you don't ever want it to be that. So, that's a big salute right there. - Right now, I know you say that - And I would drink with you but y'all got them cameras on, I'm a role model. (laughs) - You hear that Chuck, he's a role model. - You seen with us, you remember when the time where didn't nobody wear Clipper jerseys wasn't nobody even going to the games and we got the opportunity to get drafted there and we created a little buzz even though y'all was winning every championship back to back to back to see the Clippers where they at now for players to really want to go there and trying to change the culture and just bring a second team to LA like what do you think about from the time we kind of got there to now you actually see kids and players with Clippers jerseys? - It's actually interesting to hear them start to change the conversation. Like you hear people say now if the Clippers win, it'll be a Clipper town. Me and him fight over that all the time. My boy 'cause he like the Lakers. It just means that you guys have a super respectable team. 'Cause y'all were making noise. Y'all were making noise to the point to where if we didn't pay attention y'all would beat us. And we couldn't have that so. - That was our Super bowl every year. - So, a lot of teams I admit, we'd play 'em, you go to work, but I had to be like listen man we can't lose to the Clippers here in LA ever, so but now now, y'all really have a chance to make some, and then Doc came in, put his foot down when it's a home game, we covering up the Laker jerseys. - He changed it, he changed it. I'm telling you him and Ballmer changed the whole aesthetic - It don't even look like the Lakers. - Yeah it don't - because we used to always have to be stretching looking at y'all jerseys and stuff like this ain't our home damn game, y'all got pictures in the hallway. - One year we beat y'all. - You ain't never beat us stop. - We celebrated like we won the championship. - You ain't beat us, get outta here. - We did beat y'all that year. - You drinking, stop it. - No, no, we won. - We won - No you didn't, stop it. - Maggette had a good game against dude. - Corey had like 28 on y'all, on Kobe. - And I had a good game, I had a good first half. - Yeah he hit a half court on y'all. - Who was playing? - I hit a half court. - Who was playing, was I playing? - Yeah, it was on y'all home court. - I wasn't playing, stop it. - You was in foul trouble. - Stop it, against who? Olokowandi? - No, not against. - Oh hell no! (laughs) Man, don't even try that, no way. (laughs) - I want to talk to you about, about your son Shareef right, 'cause as a parent you know we all got kids and stuff. My kids aren't as old but you know we all wish that our kids play basketball and go be like us, do what we did and can make it to the NBA for you to have a son that's as good as your son as like, how is it to be you, to be able to go to games and support your son and then have him deal with what he's dealt with at such a young age going through the heart surgery and now leaving UCLA and doing his thing. How is it for you to support that? And to watch him go on his journey? - So I tell all my kids all the time. Six of 'em, I say we don't need another basketball player I'd like to have a surgeon, a business woman, the next Oprah, fashion line, whatever. So I don't put pressure on 'em to play basketball. Rule in my house is you have to have two degrees to touch some of my cheese. So I don't put pressure on 'em so - [Quentin] Oh, I like that. - So when I was raising 'em. - Say that again for the people in the back. - You got to have two degrees to touch some of my cheese. - My kids better be listening. - So my wife, I don't believe in x-wife, she's still my wife. My wife is pretty tall so I figured the baby was going to be about 6'9" so now I'm training Shareef and Shaqir like my favorite players at the time, Kobe, T Mac, Grant Hill so they're really guards I'm like we ain't doing no drop step, shoot, Steve Smith, I'm teaching 'em all that right, and then go over there with your uncle, Uncle Quentin he gon' teach them, go over there with your Uncle T Mac they gon' teach you something so they got a lot of knowledge from a lot of people. Now, they, phew but they have the guard ability which is good 'cause in this era, - That's what they, that's how they playing. - big guys ain't bumping anyway. So, he, Shareef and Shaqir, they work I don't have to mess with 'em, I don't have to yell at 'em they work and the most important thing I said, you ain't gon' be me. I don't want you to be me, be yourself. Despite what they say or every time they, don't be me, 'cause this is a true story. I had 45 one time in high school, three quarters left, playing against some little guys I'm supposed to be dunking, I'm not dunking. I don't want to dunk, I want to, so I lay it up, finger roll and miss. My dad walk onto the court, in a drill sergeant, I said yo man, "Call a time out." I call a timeout, I go outside. He said, "Yo man, what you doing?" I said man you know I'm working on my Dr. J, Magic shit, whop, whop, smacked me. (laughs) No, ain't no Magic, Dr. J, you Shaq, be Shaq. And that's when, that's why every time I dunk I try to rip the rim off 'cause it was, I was mad at him. - Like you did though, several times. - Yeah, like I did, so when I dunk when I start dunking like that, and everybody start doing that, I was like oh, we have something here. Boom, boom, boom they don't like that, they don't like when I bump, so when I tell my babies all the time, look man, you ain't got to be like me. Be yourself, make a name for yourself. So, when he had the, when he had the heart surgery it was tough, but before I had a conversation with him, I had to, I had to do my own research. So there was three doctors that could fix it and one had a damn near perfect record, Stanford. So I met with him, said hey man, what's happening. And he was smooth, white guy from Boston, he was like Shaq I got you, don't even worry about it. I'm the Larry Bird of these surgeries. Like he, - Swagging. - You know, he knew what to say, yeah, he said I'm good. I'm 98, don't even worry about it. So, but I'm messing with him, what about this guy? No, man that's the old way we not, what about this? Shaq I got you. Go on with the surgery so but you know my son on social media, you know how kids they read stuff people telling him oh, you ain't gon' make it, you ain't gon' make it. So, right before he go in, he was kinda nervous. - [Quentin] Had to be. - So I had to tell him, I had to tell him like a little homeboy story. I said hey man, you bout to go in there, there's this nurse named Anesthesia, she fine then a motherfucker. (laughs) She is so fine. He said what do you mean? I said, she cold, she cold. So after, when we got over that I said when you wake up, I'ma be the first one there. Don't worry about it. So when we woke up me and his mom was there, I said see, now that shit's over now we don't think about it. Now you take your little three months off and then we get back to work. So he working, he working. - When's the first time you broke a rim like just completely dismantled something that was a real structure? Not like a, you know a-- - The same day my father, the same day my father smacked me. - That day? - Yeah, - And broke it. - 'cause you remember in high school they didn't have them break aways. They had the ones-- - Right that's what I'm saying - Yeah, so I broke the whole thing off. - No, you pretty much reconfigured the whole basketball structure situation. You made 'em rethink it. - And then my dad was sort of like me so after he punched me and I ain't crying but I got a tear in my eye. I break the rim and then he don't smile or nothing. - He ain't hype or nothing. - No he just look at me like. - [Darius] 'Posed to do it. - Like yeah, like you was supposed to do it. So the next game, he there, I'm like oh okay. You ain't like that, what about this one. Or this one. First time he told me good game was after my first championship, 'cause he was, he loved the game. He wanted perfection so if I had 50 points he'd be like, you should have 60, you missed ten free throws. - [Darius] You missed ten free throws, yeah. - I don't want to hear that shit. You ain't that good yet, click. - But that's what I look at now, when I look at big fellas, - And he'd just hang up. - when I looked at big dudes when I was coming through, you was the bar. I always knew how it felt when I come down and try and double or swipe at the ball (Shaq fake cries) and this motherfucker got the ball, like no, watch your whole everything. - Yes. (laughs) - So when I played that was the whole standard that I kept, everybody. - Not you, I wasn't going to touch you up. - No, I'm just saying but I seen you do it - Yeah, I don't want to touch you up. so it was in my mind like, - [Shaq] Of course. - Regardless whether you was going to do it to me, I was aware like hold on, I saw such and such come down there and get his whole shit tore up I'm not trying to be that person. Like, good that you rocked with me but like still that was in my mind like no. And when you see, when I talk about a lot of the people I talk about, when you see people that you know supposed to do a certain thing bro, I need to see it done. (laughs) Now you was for real (laughs) - [Darius] Straight H2O. - I want y'all to see I don't be drinking when that camera's rolling. (laughs) - But for me you was for real, like Thanos wasn't out back then but you was Thanos. - Thank you. - You was what it was supposed to be when you saw this big massive physique, - Dominant. - chiseled action figure, but then also once you got the ball. - I did used to be chiseled right? I ain't chiseled no more though (grunts). - You would be chiseled. - But look it was for real like, it was for real like, the first time we met you was when we played them, we played them, remember we saw him in the weight room in the Staples Center and I was like goddamn! - He's that motherfucking big. - This motherfucker standing there and you was like, (in deep voice) "How y'all doing?" You was like, "Y'all good?" You was cool and shit but it was like for real, that's the true, like when you look at the Avengers and you see Thanos how he destroyed every Avenger by themselves one on one, it took a whole group but like that's what, when you see people like you, that's what I want to see. - Me too. - And when I don't see it, I'm disappointed. - Oh man, it makes you mad, it makes me mad. - Yeah, like I'm not, I don't care if you still an all star I don't care if you still one of the best. You not what you supposed to be. - And I hate when people say 'cause I read what Joel Embiid said, Shaq I like you and Chuck but we don't play the game like that no more. Why not? - Because that's why, because you won't. If you played like that, nobody can't do a damn thing with you big fella and you gon' change the game again. - Let me ask you 'cause like, you made a living off sealing motherfuckers right under the basket turning and dunking. - [Quentin] It's over. - I never see kids or these big guys seal nobody under the basket no more. Even if they way bigger and stronger. - I don't understand that. - Like I, it was a nightmare if the big man went back and you sealed off. - I can look at a guy and tell who's happy to be here, who wants to be good, who wants to be great and who wants to be the best ever. - Thank you, thank you, we can see that shit. You can see it. - I can look at you and tell, I can look at you and tell. - You watch long enough, it's apparent. - Some people just like having the hype of being a good player. That wasn't good enough for me. That wasn't good enough for me. - I remember this, I don't know if you remember this but we played you in pre-season when I got traded from the Clippers to the Cavs and every year you'd be like hey, keep up the good work D Miles, I like the way you playing, you getting better and better every year and we played you pre-season and I didn't rehab as good, I didn't have the lift I had or the speed I had and you instantly called it out and was like uh uh, there's something wrong with you. - Yeah there is something wrong with you. - You ain't the same player - [Shaq] You ain't. - that you was last year. - [Shaq] I know you. - You was the first player that like, you was the first person, outside of a coach or anybody to point it out and be like dang and I felt it like, he right, like I don't feel the same. - It's only 20 people that I cared about in the NBA, lot of youngsters, I love White Chocolate. - Yeah, that's the dude. - White Chocolate, GP, Vince, T Mac, you two, Grant Hill, that's about it. Everybody I didn't really care about it was just something about those names I just mentioned whether you were cool or just you know. - Speaking on that, I can legit remember two instances with you saying that how you rocked with us, I remember like, I remember the first game we played you, I don't even remember, you might have been in Miami then. - I didn't know you had freckles, little cute ass little boy. (laughs) - Yeah, he got freckles, he freckled. - Man listen, damn (laughs) - He be using make up, he putting you know how them girls use make up take them freckles out. - Cute ass little boy, face little. (laughs) - I can't deal with this dude. - That motherfucker beautiful over there, isn't he? (cracking up) - Oh shit, but so, this was the first time we played. I want to say you was with the Heat then. 'Cause this was when I was with the Knicks, this was the first time after my brother got killed and I remember, we was in the warm ups and you came to me, like you called me over there to half court, like hey, and you was like, is your family cool? Everybody cool? And I was like yeah man you know we kinda dealing with it, he was like, they already got 'em? (laughs) He was like no, no, fuck that, you know we eye for an eye over here, you was like they already got 'em? I was like yeah man, they already arrested him and everything, and you was like all right, all right. (laughs) - Yeah, family dawg. - I will never forget that, dead ass. And then the second thing, I want to know if you remember this. This was 05 in Denver at the All Star Game when I won the 3 point contest right, so you remember you and Shaunie was sitting right there, so I'll remember this like yesterday, I'll never ever forget this 'cause a couple weeks about a month ago or so, somebody posted the little clip and you know I made my last nine in a row. So you and her were sitting right there on the bend of the elbow so after I got through with the rack before the last I got to the corner, y'all was right there. So I missed the first one on the second to last rack then I made the last nine straight so after I made bout two, three and I was coming around this way I started shooting, now you right behind me, every time I pulled all I could hear behind me was like "Yakum, yakum, yakum" I swear to God, I was like, and it was weird because you know, in those moments I felt like I was in the zone, it was like, I can't really hear shit else - Or look around. - The crowd or nothing ain't going but I hear you right there, yakum, yakum. (laughs) I said yo, I'll never forget that shit like Shaq was right there you had the hat on, I was like, yo, that's crazy. - Movies, I had the opportunity to do a couple of movies. - Y'all two movie stars. (Shaq laughs in throat) - You talking 'bout my shit was terrible? (laughs) You're shit was - Hey, his make up game was terrible in that movie boy I remember when he came out, I said boy. - I felt, I felt I Denzelled my shit, I felt my Denzelled my shit, I was supposed to got an Oscar or something. - I Denzel (cracks up) - This the coldest part though, look, he was in a movie with Captain America, Black Widow, all them was in that movie before they blew up. After that movie I said damn. - I'm supposed to be a super hero too they ain't come get me. - I said where you goddamn Avengers role, everybody in your movie went big time except him. - Living in LA you get those opportunities, I ain't saying no to them opportunities. - I didn't say no neither. - Like look, I never wanted to do a rap album. So when I first did Arsenio Hall, I said I got to do something different, I'm different I said just let me rap with my favorite rapper, and I rapped with the Fu-Schnickens, - Fu-Schnickens. - next day at my office, they said we want to give you a record deal. (laughs) I was like... We'll give you ten million, your first record. I was like I don't think I can do a record by myself. We'll get anybody you want. Anybody? (laughs) Yeah, that's when I said, okay I can do albums but it ain't gon' be me, I'm with Biggie, Quik, Snoop, that's why I did all those album deals 'cause they wanted to pay, yeah. - That's what I wanted to ask you. - Bro, I couldn't imagine just being there. You sitting there it just come to you, I don't want to rap, you like, ten mill, they like, we'll get anybody, you like, let's do it. - I had, I bought your albums, used to listen to it. - All of em' "You Can't Stop the Reign" still one of the, I don't even care if you rap or not, that still one of the dopest, like that's a, for a hooper, that's one, man please. - I used to play Shaq-Fu on Nintendo all the time and listen to the album. - I definitely had the game. One of my favorite artists is Biggie. - Oh yeah. - To do a song with Biggie, like one of the, arguably the best rapper ever, to do a song with him - And a dope song. - And one of the dopest songs ever still ring to this day. Tell us about the process of that. - So the process is we get him on the phone, he said, I'm doing brothers like Shaquille, shit is real, I was like ooh, he knows where it's at (laughs) - Lit. - So you know I called him I called Puff, I said get me. I said Big I'm doing an album. He said yeah, I heard you spit big fella we can do it. So I sent him the beat, and never responded. So then Puff called and said hey Biggie and Lil Ceas, they flying out today but prior to that I did my verse over like ten times 'cause I don't want it to be, Like I'm not that good to be in the studio with him, let me just get mine out the way. Let him hear it and just hope he like it. - With the greatness when he show up. - You can't stop the reign, huh? - So I had Peter with me and everybody heard it and everybody was like yeah, that's dope he gon' like that. So when he get there, 'cause I had the studio in the house, I let him hear it. He was like that's tight, that's tight. So I hand him a pad and a pen, 'cause you know they was going to be doing their thing in the studio you know what I'm talking 'bout I can't be a part of that so I said here's your pad, your pen, just hit this button I'ma be in here and just let me know when you ready. He was like I'm ready now. (laughs) I'm like what you mean you ready now? He said, I'm ready now. Bro, one take, killed it. (laughs) Hey, I ain't never seen, listen I done, him, Jay Z and Nas are the only people to do that everybody else that they can do what they do. Three minutes nailed it, but it was too, it was too street. And we played it about five times and I looked at him. He was like, what's wrong? I was like Big. He was like that's right the kids, my bad Diesel. And then he went back and laid the other verse. So I'm the only one that got the original what it said and I ain't gon' ever release it. I got it, I bump it all the time. - [Quentin] That's a song-- - But listen, he went off, went off - That's something that hip hop heads would probably lose their mind for. - He went off and I was like, he was like, what's wrong? I was like Big, he said, that's right Diesel my bad, kids, kids. - So you listen to the real version whenever you want to? - All the time, yeah all the time. - You had a song to your father on your, on that album and I used to listen to that song all the time 'cause I didn't have my daddy. You had a video to it and all that stuff. What was inspired by that song? I know it's your father but like how you wanted to put that out to put it in words? - The guy that made me who I am was my step father so then my real father came around, I ain't gon' talk about it now 'cause me and my real father we kind of made up but he came around and I'm like bro, the world don't need to know that. Now, I got TMZ, all them, before they was even nothing now all these people all in my business. - [Darius] Right. - Right, but my thing was from zero to 18 you wasn't trying to holler, so don't try to holler now 'cause I'm Shaq Diesel, so anyway after my stepfather passed, my mom said you need to get to know your real father. So we cool now, we talk, I talk to him all the time. - You gotta grow up - So I went to see him in Newark and I said hey man come holler at me. He said man, I'm thirty blocks away. You walking? So I had to, we went to a spot, I said pick one out. Bought him a little car, I said whenever I come to town and call you, tell you come see me, don't tell me you walking. So I bought him a little jeep sitting on some things so he rolling around Newark, and they know that's my pops so they know not to mess with him but we cool now but at that time I was like bro you ain't have to let the world know this and then to pay homage to the guy that made me who I am I'm a let the world know that he's the one. 'Cause without him I wouldn't be here right now. - Straight up, I remember, I don't know if Q was with me I don't know if we came over there with Lebron. I remember two stories of coming over your house in Orlando, the mega house. I remember when we came over there - [Quentin] Shaq-a-pulco. - And you was like, yeah you see them neighbors down there, I'm pulling up in they house with the Brinks truck and they gon' have to get out. They gon' have to move, - Yeah, they did. - to build the house that you have. I remember going over there and you had - 'Cause I was watching Godfather one day and was like let's make 'em an offer they can't refuse. So the house next to me was worth two something, I got, I did all my research. So I went over there like, I'll give you 1.5 cash. Nope, I give you 1.7 cash, nope. I'll give you 2 cash, nope 2.1 cash is my final offer, okay all right boomp, get out, expanded so at that time I added so I just wanted to make the bigger house. But when you that young you don't think like right, I only been there two days last year so it's just sitting there collecting dust. - Could we go spend the night or something - Of course, man and I'm mad at you dawg. - like, you know, let me borrow it, - Why is that? - like we live five minutes from there, - I ain't know that. - like let me come over and spend the night or something I'll take care of it. - When I pulled up to the 7-Eleven they was like you just left. - Like we need a gym to work out full, I play in the big three, I know you got the Shaq center there, I need a gym, like let me go work out or something. - You can call me anytime, I ain't mad at y'all. - I ain't gon' trash the place, I got kids I know how to take care of stuff I ain't gon' do you like that. (laughs) - Look, I be at home bored by myself I ain't got nobody to hang out with. - I told you I done seen literally remember I had couple times I had told you - I remember you showed me the bed in that joint you got, I said what the fuck is that. - I saw him a few times, like you - Yeah, I saw you too. - First of all, we gotta talk about the toys. You got more toys as a big adult than anybody. - Not a lot, I used to. - I done seen you one time in what is it, the Slingshot, - Oh yeah, the Slingshot nice. - I done seen you hitting switches in a old school, playing music loud. - Oh yeah, how the Slingshot? You fittin' to get rid of your Slingshot? - No, no. - I heard you fittin' to get rid of it. - Why you want it? - Yeah. - And I be seeing D Mac, I see cous' all the time. - All right let me know, make me a price. - You know I bought the van from you, the van that you had the screen in, bought it from D Mac Had the Superman symbol. - Yeah, you sure did. - I got the van. - But yeah, you want the Slingshot, it's yours. - When you come to the draft, you see this man. A lot of people don't know his name until you get close to the draft. His name is David Stern, you always know who this man is. Just tell us like some of the stories of the opportunities you got a chance to shake his hand and come into this league and to get to know him over your career, how good a person he was. - I meet him before the draft, he says even before the lottery, he said you want to play where it's hot or where it cold? And I said hot and Orlando gets the ball. I don't think nothing of it. - I'm a conspiracy theorist everybody. - Yeah, I am too. (laughs) - I love that you just said that. - I'm at the draft and he's coming up with the envelope. And he's looking at the envelope and he goes, (laughs) - That was a wink, if the cameras did not see it that was a strong wink. - So right then I, 'cause I ain't know if I, I know I was one, two, or three but I ain't know. So like he got the envelope and it was real quick, he was like and with the first and then he called me. And I would always see him and say thank you 'cause he actually paved the way for all of us. - Absolutely. - He did a lot. So I remember one time when the hack-a-Shaq was starting to get strong, I went to his office and said listen I make a lot of money and based on your pay scale, I can miss 20 games and still be all right. So the next person that foul me, I'm knocking somebody teeth out and he started laughing. He said Shaq you know what's funny about this conversation he said, you're complaining about 28 teams but I got 28 teams complaining about you. (laughs) That's what he said. - That's crazy, perspective - I said, yeah, they complaining about me? He said yeah, everybody's your too big, your too strong you get all the calls, like I can't and then he said, let me keep it real with you Shaq I can't call every foul. I said you right and so that's when I said okay you can't call every foul that also means you can't call every three seconds. And that's when I just stood in the lane. - 'Cause it always was clogged in there you always - Yeah, all day I'ma just stand in there, I'm like you gon' call it but you ain't gon' call it two times, and three times ain't no way, ain't no way you gon' do it, so I kind of just forgot about the hack-a-Shaq and said to myself if I can get past this and win it'll make me the most unstoppable big guy ever. - Yeah, I mean for you in particular I mean it's a hand full of guys individuals in the league but somebody like you whose brand is so huge globally I mean he had to like immediately impact that with him taking the game to China everywhere he took it and you big everywhere right after that. It's like he opened the doors and you stepped straight through like yeah, let me go 'head slide up in here and everybody obviously loves you and your brand is unbelievably big but I know he had to impact that directly with him opening the doors all over the world. - Believe it or not all the players before me they weren't relatable to guys like us, you understand what I'm saying? I was the guy that y'all were gonna relate to because even though I'm looking at Magic and Mike, they ain't like me. I don't know where they're from but they're not like me. Kareem ain't like me, Wilt ain't like me. Right? So when I got the opportunity to be that guy I was like okay let me pave the way for all these guys that's coming behind me. And that's all I tried to do. - You had the opportunity to have Big Baby on our show. - That's my boy. - Big Baby said he had the opportunity to meet you when he was younger. - And he flipped me. - And y'all was wrastling, - [Quentin] So it's true. - he said he slammed you. - [Shaq] Yeah, he strong as shit. - Big Dawg, - So, the baby, the baby got up on you? - it is confirmed right here today. He said he didn't even know what was going on, he said he just all excited to meet you and you squared up like come on let's wrestle and he was like, all right I'm bout to wrestle Shaq I guess (laughs) He said then I got 'em, I got 'em for a second. - He flipped me, that was him. - Shot out to the Bearilla, Big Baby. - [Shaq] Yeah, he's strong, how's he doing, he good? - [Darius] Oh yeah he good. - Big Baby good man, we trying to get his barbecue thing off the ground, we trying to - What he doing, he got some barbecue sauce? - Man listen - Barbecue everything Big Baby Barbecue. - We trying to get somebody to mess with his Big Baby Barbecue brand 'cause he's amazing. The man can cook and everything, you know he can, come on man, you've seen him the man-- - Does he have a restaurant? - No, he trying to get somebody to rock with him. - All right Big Baby I got a cooking show it'll be starting in March I'm a bring you on. - This what we need to do, you hear the big fella. - I'ma bring you on. - Baby Barbecue. - I'ma bring you on. - You decided, like you do a lot of things, like you a cop, you got degrees, you a doctor. - Why you snitching on TV man? - How did that start? - How is that snitching? Everybody know you a cop. - Like you pulled us over in LA bro with flashing lights bro. - Everybody know you the po po man, you twelve, how ever you want to call it, five-O. - So when I was young, hearing that I wasn't going to be a great basketball player. I would write down in alphabetical order what I wanted to be. A, a basketball player B, basketball player, C, cop, D, detective, E, entrepreneur, F, I don't know what F was so these were all dreams. So, towards the latter part of my career when I'm starting to feel old I'm like what am I going to do when I retire. 'Cause you never know what you're going to do, like podcasts wasn't out yet. - Hell no. - TNT wasn't really hiring. I didn't know what I'ma do. I think I can be a sheriff. 'Cause I can relate to us, I want to be the guy that brings law enforcement and the hood close together. I speak our language. - In our communities, yeah. - A lot of people in that position don't speak our language I speak it, I know when I'm pulling up who holding and who ain't holding. I know when I'm pulling up who really working the streets or who really working or not. Like I can see it 'cause that's what we been seeing all our life. But, I don't like people giving me stuff. I want to earn everything I got so while I was playing, I was at the LA Sheriff's academy. And there's different levels. You got to go level three, level two, level one. Level one gives you full fledged police status. You don't have to have anybody with you so I'm a reserve in LA and I was working. I was working the streets, working the neighborhood, talking to kids, going through the hood doing stuff because when I'm done with everything I will be Sheriff somewhere Orlando, Georgia, Florida I don't know and I want the people that work for me to see I have the qualifications. 'Cause Sheriff is a elective position. I'm sure I could win from being Shaq but now that I got the job you want your people to respect you. See like for me to have a television, radio career like this they already have to know that I have enough experience to say all right you put the camera there, you put the camera there, you put the camera there. Don't buy that mic set, like they have to know so they respect me. If I come in and just say do a camera thing and let them do what they want, it's going be bullshit so that's why I always wanted to be a cop. - My thing is like-- - Stop telling people I pulled y'all over, I ain't pulled y'all over. (laughs) Did I give you a ticket? - Hell no, you ain't giving no ticket. - I was late for practice though. - But it was the flashing light where I was like what the hell is going on. - I was late for practice and got fined. - Huh? - I was late for practice and got fined. - Oh you did. - We trying to go out to Las Palmas, the Gate, you know what I'm saying. - Hey but listen, this, before when you used to do-- - He was late for practice (laughs) - You get the title of a doctor, you put all this stuff on your resume, I never knew what was the meaning of it. But then as I got older and be like man I want my resume to be filled up as much as your resume filled up. - This for y'all. - You can look at this resume and be like he's a doctor, he's a cop, he's a professional athlete - For real, Dr. O'Neal. he's an entrepreneur, he's this and he's that. - Y'all are younger than me and I don't want to say y'all my kids disrespectfully but I did it for y'all. I did it for my kids, I want to be just you know, I want people to say hey, if he can do it, I can do it. And all it takes is just get one to two people in that situation and even now like I meet a lot of people it actually makes me feel a whole, hey man when I was young I did this. I met a guy one time he said, man I was about to kill myself and I met you, you was nice to me you know you, my mom was having problems buying something and you bought the furniture. I was like man, I want to be like you. He's a lawyer now in Orlando. - No, I feel like for real like a lot of the things, you know we come up, we grow up and see different things and like even when we was in the league I used to always be like man, Shaq like my spirit animal or something just, I'm serious, 'cause like just on a way I feel like to one of the quotes to my sister, not a quote but a scripture that my sister would always quote is like to whom much is given much is required right? So I always looked at that as like we should be doing more and try to help people do that and like, you, I feel like, I don't want to say more than anybody but as much as anybody that I can think of have always helped people from giving people that work for the team, buying 'em trucks or cars or just all types of stories from the things you do with the kids which your charity, how you do the Shaq-a-Clause and you do it all over the country not just here or there. Like, you have as good a time as the kids, getting the bikes as the kids get, like you get a kick out of that and even in everything that's already, we know stuff is set up and situated to do it but you still bring your lust to it. You coming out your pocket, do this for 100 dollars, I got 100 dollars for you, just doing extras on top which we know what that means to them kids so for me, I just, man, like I say you might spirit animal and we need more like you for real. - My mom always taught me in riddles. She said son you were once a nobody, now you a somebody, but as a somebody if you treat the regular man like a nobody you will revert back to being a nobody. - That's strong right there. - So I don't-- - Can you repeat that again? - No, 'cause I just made it up (laughs) while I'm drinking this lovely refreshing - [Darius] H2O - Hey, even if you made it up that still was heavy. - No, no, you were once a nobody but now you're a somebody but if you treat the regular people as a nobody you will revert back to being a nobody. So I just want to make people smile. I want to be nice. I'm not, just 'cause I make more money than you don't mean I'm better than you. Just 'cause I'm bigger than you don't mean I'm harder than you 'cause anybody can be touched, you understand what I'm saying so - [Darius] Facts. - I'm all about peace, I don't want no problems I only just, hey how you, what's up my man? I show respect. I demand respect and you know you just have to be nice to people. Like the other day I was at the mall I saw this beautiful sister with five babies with no coats. I was in a hurry, I damn near missed a meeting but I couldn't do it. I was like come on. She was like what, she was like I just need some money I was like no, come on lady. - Come on let's go on and get the sale - So I had to walk back in the mall taking picture with her and everybody. - That's what I'm talking 'bout right there. - You know, she was like this coat cost, I was like don't worry bout the coat just get two coats. I spent about 1300 but I wouldn't have felt right getting in my car and leaving them babies out - [Darius] And leaving them babies standing out there. - Yeah I couldn't do it. - Like I say, we appreciate you you coming with us, you the best center I ever seen. - Appreciate that. - In my life, one of the best players I ever seen in my life. - And it was nice drinking with y'all today. - Thank you. - Hey, know what I'm saying, good libations everybody. - And thank you for being you and for what you bring to the-- - And tell your little lawyer girl who tried to make me sign that paper, I ain't signing nuttin'. (laughs) This is Shaq O'Neal you watching the Knuckleheads podcast (click) - Thank you for being you. - Y'all heard him. - Thank you for, for just everything just always showing love to us. - Always. - So slow down man, we got - We got gifts. - We got to show our love and appreciation man for the big dawg, - The black box - Coming through rocking with us we got a little slight merchandise. - Let me put this on. - Since he the one who originally started it any-who - No I didn't that was y'all. - The black box. - Can you feel me. - Everybody eat baby, that was y'all. - And then you know, we got our gracious sponsor is Mr. Hennessy, we know you don't do this. - Y'all got sponsors, yo (laughs) - You a role model, they gave you the special. This that first one, - Oh it got my name on it? - this that XO, you know what I'm saying XO mean extra old, you ain't extra old, you know what I'm saying but you know what I'm saying they got that special Knucklheads logo with the big fella. - They got that logo on there joe, that's exclusive right there knuckleheads. - I appreciate that. I will put this in my trophy cabinet. Thank you fellas. - There you go, that's what y'all supposed to do Hennessy. Know what I'm saying, we got that big dawg. - I love y'all boy. (theme music) (click) (click and bell rings) (click) (click and bell rings)

Channel: The Players' Tribune

Views: 1,197,961

Keywords: Basketball, NBA, National Basketball Association, Sports, Sports fans, Podcasts, Shaq

Id: p8ZKrd6m190

Length: 75min 3sec (4503 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 20 2020