Shaquille O’Neal believes in working hard for your money — even when it comes to his six kids.
The Basketball Hall of Famer, during an appearance on the “Earn Your Leisure” podcast, said his kids don’t get a free pass just because their dad is rich and famous.
“My kids are older now. They kinda upset with me. Not really upset, but they don’t understand,” said O’Neal, who recently retired his celebrity status in an interview with The Post. “I tell them all the time. We ain’t rich. I’m rich.”
O’Neal is estimated to have a net worth of $400 million. His playing days over, he’s an analyst on TNT’s “Inside the NBA” and has a reported 50 different endorsement deals including Gold Bond, Reebok, Pepsi, and The General. There are also multiple dining ventures like Papa John’s, Big Chicken, and Shaquille’s.
The four-time NBA champion went on to reveal the standards his kids must uphold if they want a piece of the O’Neal money pie.
“You gotta have bachelor’s or master’s [degrees] and then if you want me to invest in one of your companies, you’re going to have to present it, boom boom boom, bring it to me,” he said. “I’ll let you know, I’m not giving you nothing.”
While O’Neal admittedly sees an entrepreneurial spirit in his children, he wants them to “figure it out” on their own.
“There’s one rule: education. I don’t care if you play basketball. I don’t care about none of that,” he said. “Listen, I got six kids. I would like a doctor, somebody to own a hedge fund, a pharmacist, a lawyer, someone that owns multiple businesses, someone to take over my business. But I tell them I’m not going to hand it to you. You gotta earn it.”
In September, O’Neal, who grew up poor in Newark, New Jersey, opened up about his humble beginnings in an interview with The Post.
“I came from nothing,” he said. “But, just because I made it doesn’t mean I’m bigger than you, smarter than you — just because I have more money doesn’t mean I’m better than you. I’ve never been that way and I never will be that way.”
You can’t say Ice Cube isn’t a man who stands on his principles, no matter how debatable or questionable they may be. The rapper turned actor and mogul has reportedly left a Sony comedy called Oh Hell No over his refusal to take a COVID-19 vaccine.
