Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal (/ʃəˈkiːl/ shə-KEEL; born March 6, 1972), known commonly as Shaq (/ʃæk/ SHAK), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program Inside the NBA.

[19] On his 1994 rap album, Shaq Fu: The Return, O'Neal voiced his feelings of disdain for Toney in the song "Biological Didn't Bother", dismissing him with the line "Phil is my father."

He first met Tigers coach Dale Brown years earlier in Europe when O'Neal's stepfather was stationed on a U.S. Army base at Wildflecken, West Germany.

[37] On more than one occasion during the year, Sports Illustrated writer Jack McCallum overheard O'Neal saying, "We've got to get [head coach] Matty [Guokas] out of here and bring in [assistant] Brian [Hill].

[42][failed verification] In O'Neal's third season, 1994–95, he led the NBA in scoring with a 29.3 point average, while finishing second in MVP voting to David Robinson and entering his third straight All-Star Game along with Hardaway.

Orlando easily defeated the Detroit Pistons and the Atlanta Hawks in the first two rounds of the 1996 NBA Playoffs; however, they were no match for Jordan's Bulls, who swept them in the Eastern Conference finals.

[50] On the team's first full day at the Olympics in Atlanta, the media announced that O'Neal would join the Los Angeles Lakers on a seven-year, $121 million contract.

Long-time Laker point guard Nick Van Exel was traded to the Denver Nuggets;[64] his former backcourt partner Eddie Jones was packaged with back-up center Elden Campbell for Glen Rice to satisfy a demand by O'Neal for a shooter.

They sought the free-agent services of two aging stars—forward Karl Malone and guard Gary Payton—but due to salary cap restrictions, could not offer either player nearly as much money as he could have made with some other teams.

O'Neal assisted in the recruitment efforts and personally persuaded both men to join the squad, each forgoing larger salaries in favor of a chance to win an NBA championship.

The feud climaxed during training camp prior to the 2003–2004 season when Bryant, in an interview with ESPN journalist Jim Gray, criticized O'Neal for being out of shape, a poor leader, and putting his salary demands over the best interest of the team.

O'Neal also narrowly lost the 2004–05 MVP Award to Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash in one of the closest votes in NBA history.

[96] Despite being hobbled by a deep thigh bruise, O'Neal led the Heat to the Eastern Conference finals and a game 7 against the defending champion Detroit Pistons, losing by a narrow margin.

[104][105] After one of those missed games, a Christmas Day match-up against the Lakers, he ripped Jackson, who O'Neal had once called a second father, referring to his former coach as "Benedict Arnold".

The Phoenix Suns acquired O'Neal in February 2008 from the league-worst Miami Heat, who had a record at the time of the trade of 9–37, in exchange for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks.

"[133] O'Neal averaged career lows in almost every major statistical category during the 2009–10 season, largely due to splitting Center duties with Zydrunas Ilgauskas.

[134] Celtics coach Doc Rivers agreed to the signing on the condition that O'Neal would not receive preferential treatment, nor could he cause any locker room problems like in Los Angeles or Miami.

[143] O'Neal missed games throughout the season due to an assortment of ailments to his right leg[144] including knee,[145] calf,[146] hip,[147] and Achilles injuries.

[164] O'Neal established himself as an overpowering low post presence, putting up career averages of 23.7 points on .582 field goal accuracy, 10.9 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game.

[195] During the 2005 NBA playoffs, O'Neal compared his poor play to Erick Dampier,[196] a Dallas Mavericks center who had failed to score a single point in one of their recent games.

[198] O'Neal also appeared on television on Saturday Night Live (he was initially picked to host the second episode of season 24 in 1998, but had to back down due to scheduling conflicts, being replaced by Kelsey Grammer; however, he did appear in two sketches during the episode) and in 2007 hosted Shaq's Big Challenge, a reality show on ABC in which he challenged Florida kids to lose weight and stay in shape.

[214][215][216] On June 7, 2023, O'Neal released his first single as DJ Diesel from his debut album Gorilla Warfare, titled "Bang Your Head" in collaboration with Hairitage.

[241][242] O'Neal is one of the first African Americans to portray a major comic book superhero in a motion picture, having starred as John Henry Irons, the protagonist in the 1997 film Steel.

[251] O'Neal also appeared in Quest for the Code in 2002 as a voice actor,[252] Backyard Basketball in 2004, Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2 as a playable boxer, and as an unlockable character in Delta Force: Black Hawk Down.

[268] The producer of the show, Kim No-eun said, "We've worked hard on our guest list this season, so Choo Seong Hoon will be appearing on a cable channel for the first time.

He has appeared in several Pepsi commercials, such as a 1995 advertisement which parodied shows like I Love Lucy (the "Job Switching" episode), Bonanza, and Woody Woodpecker.

He has also appeared in commercials for companies such as Reebok, Nestlé Crunch, Gold Bond, Buick, The General, Papa John's, Hulu, Epson, Carnival Cruises, Frosted Flakes, American Express, Vitamin Water, and IcyHot, among others.

[300][301] On the March 3, 2021 episode of AEW Dynamite titled The Crossroads, O'Neal teamed with Jade Cargill to defeat Cody Rhodes and Red Velvet.

[304] In 2018, O'Neal created the combination music festival, circus and carnival, Shaq's Fun House, in partnership with Medium Rare, which is held annually.

"[352] In 2015, Shareef was seen in high school basketball highlights as a 6-foot-7-inch (2.01 m) freshman power forward, and had been described as having a "polar opposite playing style to his father" due to his more athletic build and better shooting range.